Before we get on to the second part of my interview with Colin McRae, here are some highlights from the Indy 500 Media Day in New York City on Monday.

New York photographers
The first part of Media Day is a group photo op scheduled to take place on the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, a retired aircraft carrier turned museum/tourist trap docked on the west side of Manhattan. The photographers are corralled onto two raised platforms in front of where the drivers are supposed to line up in three columns, in order of qualifying. There are strips of tape marking the position of each driver. "Danica is stuck way back there all the way to the right," says a photographer I know. "It's a joke."

Well, this is just the beginning of what would be my inauguration to the world of New York celeb photography. As the photo op runs further and further behind schedule, the shooter gets more and more antsy. Have I mentioned that it's really cold and windy as well? By the time the drivers appear in their uniforms—a parade of color against the backdrop of Navy gray—the photogs are screaming at anything that moves: "Get the security guard out of there!" "Jeez, I'm trying to take a photo up here!" "What's the guy guarding anyway?"

It gets better. They start turning on the drivers ("Stop closing your eyes!") and tourists who are just visiting the Intrepid ("Who's the idiot in the picture?!"). Pure comedy.

Dario Franchitti
Got a chance to talk to Dario Franchitti during lunch. Just a very down to earth guy. After a few years writing about motorsports, you tend to recognize similar character traits in nearly all drivers. There's an arrogance that oozes out of them like a Hugo Boss cologne, which is probably essential to their career but also colors everything they say or do. It extends to the cropped hair, the impossibly straight back, the perfect tan. Even the cool ones have a certain aloofness to them. In photos, Franchitti seems to be that type of guy. In person, he was the opposite—relaxed and easy-going, even slouching. And not in a manufactured sense. Probably the only driver I can imagine hanging out at Fatburger on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I'm rooting for him on Sunday.

Danica Mania
Even though I was at the Indy 500 last year, I didn't go to any press functions, which, I found out on Monday, is like being around Yuka fan club members at E3. For example, the first question a reporter asked Danica was "What are you doing during the Holidays?" No, not Memorial Day-but Christmas and New Year's. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Danica mentioned something about seeing her parents and chilling out. That was a sign of things to come. Over the next 20 minutes or so, we learned that she relaxed by going to the spa and shopping, that she doesn't feel fan pressure to win, that her favorite IndyCar drivers are Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Tomas Scheckter, and that she doesn't know what she'll do 10 years from now. I think I broke the world record for most eye rolls on a Navy vessel—and I'm giving you the answers to the better questions.

Watching Danica struggle with some of the answers, I also learned that it's not her fault that her sound bites are always so corny. She has to say something. Most of the questions came from female journalists. My favorite was this one: "Do you wish there were more questions about you as a driver rather than about you as a girl?" As I always say, there is no real world. Anyway, onto my dumb questions for Colin McRae...

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Just a little qualifier here before you read part 2 ... think of this set of questions like the deleted scenes on a DVD. The intention was there, but the execution didn't quite work out. I don't feel like I got the complete answers I wanted from Colin. But in the end, he's a racecar driver, not a novelist. Here you go...

rc: Why is the WRC so expensive these days? It seems like it would be in the WRC's best interest to have the best and most popular drivers out there. What needs to be changed?

cm: The cost of building and running these modern 4WD cars is too high due to the electronic control of the transmission systems, necessitating a host of engineers on every event with their laptops to input the optimal settings. Not only is this expensive but also takes away a lot of the benefit of the driver's skills.

rc: Speaking of costs and WRC logistics... Would you actually enjoy dealing with the day-to-day of running a team and dealing with budgets and such and putting a team together?

cm: No I don't see me in this role. It's the driving that I enjoy.

rc: Reporters always seem to come up to you to talk about stuff like this, partially because I think you're the only driver in this generation that seems actively concerned about the direction of the sport. In that way, you seem to be a throwback. This leads to the recent story in Autosport, about the McRae-designed rally car. Can you tell me a little about it and what your goals for the project are?

cm: I just thought it would be a good project to try and build a car that was less costly to build and a lot cheaper to run. With a 2.5-litre normally aspirated engine and a simple 4WD system without active differentials, it should be good fun to drive and more down to the driver than the technology. The additional bonus is that it should sound and look better for the spectators to watch.

rc: For you it makes more sense for rally cars to be naturally aspirated instead of turbo.

cm: Basically they will last longer, be more reliable and sound so much better.

rc: I've always thought that rally racing would make the perfect backdrop for a great buddy movie-comedy. You know, it's grimy and sort of the working class version of racing. If you break down in the middle of a stage, you get out and work on the car. No jumping on the back of a scooter and heading back to the pits. It's like The Full Monty meets motorsports (you know, except for the nudity and stuff). And then there's the built-in relationship between the driver and co-driver. Of course I always pictured you and Nicky Grist in the two roles. I always imagined that the day-to-day relationship between you two had its moments of comedy, drama, and friendship. Would that be an accurate description of your relationship? What's it really like? Can you give an example of what it's like to have such a partnership? I mean, you couldn't have scripted a better movie climax than your comeback last year. Much much better than Bend It Like Beckham.

cm: The driver/co-driver relationship is an important factor in any success. However spending so much time together both in and out of the car obviously can lead to stressful situations at times—like in a marriage, for example. It is therefore important to be able to have a relaxed yet professional relationship. Some level of common interest obviously helps with the topics of conversation in the car.

rc: And what do you think about the movie idea?

cm: Maybe of interest when I finally decide to hang up the competition helmet.

Fumes appears the first and third Tuesday of every month. Richard Chang can be emailed at rich@urbanracer.com.