Point-by-point evaluation:
Drivers more market-savvy? If having to be a social media star counts as market savvy then yes, otherwise not sure. Yes we have this thing called social media now, a lot of our inventions have not been good ones
Drivers respect women? Probably more of a mixed bag than was expected on that, again it's not all good in the 2020s...
Lexan canopies? Only in IndyCar, elsewhere we got halo bars instead.
Open-wheel series going to wheel pods/pants? Still not yet but FE and Indycar are inching closer to it.
Hub motors? Not so much on race cars due to unsprung weight, individual wheel-motors attached by axles are fairly common on electrified cars though. They are sometimes used on street cars.
Inflatable driver suits for safety? These were being tested in MotoGP a few years ago, seems they didn't go anywhere though? I haven't heard of anything like that being tried in race cars. Street car interiors are bristling with airbags now though, and soon there may be some on the exterior.
Onboard infrared tire pyrometers? Yes! Even some amateur racers have these now.
More active control technologies? Not for race cars but yes for production cars, even supercars. Especially electric ones with individual wheel motors.
AWD taking over? Not quite there but I think it is slowly happening and will happen more with further electrification. FE cars are AWD now.
New diff technologies? Almost nothing new under the sun there, although electronically-controlled active diffs are getting more popular. Maybe WaveTrac?
Winding and molding race cars? Nope, but CF wheels are being made with a process that's something like that.
Hydroforming? Still just about as niche as it was in '99.
Control arms doubling as springs? Only a few experiments here and there. Banned in F1 IIRC after a team tried this. Also no electrically-adjusted stiffness or shape.
Underbody aero on production street cars? Even grocery-getters have flat-bottom aero and spats now for efficiency, and some production supercars have huge underbody downforce, so yes.
Heavy use of virtual wind tunnels? Yes!
Sucker cars? Still as illegal as they ever were in racing, only a couple of DIY amateur race cars and 1 supercar have tried it since '99.
26"~32" wheels? Not yet but most sports cars are now running 17s-19s, the newest performance cars are running 20s or more and some cars are coming with 22s, so give it time
Flexible wheels? Still no hint of them on cars, but it's being tried on racing bicycles.
Airless tires? Still no hint of them in racing, but they're being used on some construction vehicles now and being tested for ordinary production cars...but they've been in testing for many years now.
Onboard compound spectral analyzers!? LOLNO! Not even at the pinnacle of F1.
Sequential auto transmissions taking over? Yes!
Throttle on the wheel? Nope, just as niche as it ever was.
Extra brake pedals for "cutting brake" or bias control? Still as niche as it ever was, maybe moreso. Brake-by-wire and regen setups are more common.
Possible need for reduced gears due to increased engine rev range? Yes, but in a way the article has hardly touched so far...
ICEs still in favor? Mostly yes.
Ceramic pistons? No, ceramic-coated at most.
DOHC V8s common in sedans? V8s in general aren't that common and are probably less common than in '99, pushrod V8s are still probably the most common type of V8 in North America, sedans aren't that common anymore, big nope all-around on this one.
Energy crisis? We just call that Tuesday no OPEC Embargo 2.0 yet though.
Hybrid or alternative energy series gaining momentum? Yes! There's FE, EE, WRC uses hybrids now, most (or all?) Le Mans prototypes are hybrids, all F1s are hybrids, there are even some hydrogen series around for some reason, More correct than ever expected on this one.
Hybrid turbines? Still pretty niche, sadly - they could make a lot of sense as a transitional powertrain option, but aircraft APUs continue to cost aircraft APU money.
Regen braking? Yes! Ubiquitous on every electrified vehicle.
Hydrogen rotary - Never tried apart from one Mazda tech demo, hydrogen continues to offer the best selection of the worst downsides as a fuel for cars.
Flywheel tech - Tried in racing once since '99 but still a pretty dangerous way to store meaningful amounts of energy so it hasn't taken off. Could be promising for fixed energy storage though.
CNG - Kinda, some commercial fleets run on CNG, still pretty niche otherwise though.
Pure electric? Yes! A few new batteries have been invented and FE attracts a good number of fans and is pretty fun to watch.
Portable race tracks with crazy stunt pieces being set up in stadiums? Not really, GRC may have been the closest. Monster truck shows work this way, but have for a long time. Fun fact, monster truck arenas are designed and tested in a simulator before being assembled.
The business of hiring race drivers - Looks like things went closer to scenario #1.
Things completely missed out on:
- The role of sim racing in testing and driver practice/training/recruitment
- Additive manufacturing (a lot of supercars and some race cars have 3D-printed parts)
- The potential for autonomous race cars (being tested right now)
- E85 as a popular choice of race gas
- Automatic safety systems on tracks (just hitting the market now)
- Magnetorheological shocks (got close with the springs though)
- Video and data logging becoming far cheaper to the point that it's easily accessible to amateurs