The current generation of IndyCar is growing old. Not the drivers, but the cars themselves. The current chassis was introduced in 2012, as was the 2.2-liter engine. Both have been raced for over a decade, and neither are currently scheduled to be retired.
The tried and true formula has produced many spectacular races over the past decade, and has brought in fans from around the world. At some point, however, there needs to be a new generation of car in order to keep interest levels high. Many younger fans have seen the same underlying formula on track for their entire lives, and yet there are no solid plans to update the cars to something substantially different.
So when does the current generation of IndyCar become the previous generation, and can the series stay relevant while other racing organizations continue to innovate?
Delays, Delays, Delays
Nearly every aspect of the current car that the NTT IndyCar Series races is due for an update. Both the Dallara DW12 chassis and the 2.2-liter engine formula have been raced for 11 years, making for an extremely long life cycle in the world of competitive motorsports. And as one would expect, the series has announced plans to develop a replacement for each of these components.
But there has also been one consistent follow-up story to every one of those announcements: Delayed.
The reasons given for each delay make sense on their face, and nobody is denying there are a multitude of difficult plans that need to come together to implement a major change. A delay to a proposed hybrid system due to development issues? Understandable. A delay to a 2.4-liter combustion engine because the existing manufacturers are tapped out on funds? Not great, but business is tough. A delay to a new chassis rollout because the current one is safe and produces good racing? Fans will tolerate that viewpoint for a while, as long as there is innovation introduced in other areas.
When every one of these delays come together, the result is that, once again, there are no substantial updates to the series’ cars planned for the 2023 season. Instead of looking forward to seeing the next innovation on track, fans have begun to wonder when news will break that said innovation has also been delayed.
Fans aren’t the only ones that become disheartened at constant delays either. Imagine you represent either Honda or Chevrolet, the two competing engine manufacturers in the sport. You put as many resources as possible into your program, using every scrap of your budget to field as many cars as possible while providing a competitive power unit. You have been told that the series is going to bring on a third engine manufacturer to allow you to reallocate some funds to develop a new engine.
But news of the new manufacturer never comes. The added research costs are not being balanced out by the promised relief. And soon you realize that, despite having your engine refined enough that it has completed a successful on-track test, the plan has become unsustainable. The new engine is forced to be put on an indefinite hold one year before its planned rollout, and focus turns back towards producing as many of your existing engines as possible to fill the need.
That example describes just one way in which recent delays to existing plans have affected those that are critical to the success of the series. Similar situations have played out with planned introduction of hybrid components and with a replacement for the aging Dallara chassis.
For the chassis in particular, it seems there is very little urgency to get a new design on the track. As recently as this past April, the boss himself Roger Penske has been quoted as saying that he ‘didn’t see any urgency at all’ to develop and implement a new chassis within IndyCar. It seems that racing a car whose design is bordering on becoming a teenager is not considered a big problem, at least for the highest levels of leadership.
Success with minor changes
It would be unfair to IndyCar to say that there has been complete stagnation, because there has been some innovation in recent years. Multiple smaller updates have been implemented in the 11 years since the current chassis was introduced, and most of them have been successful.
Multiple different body kits have been fitted to the DW12 chassis, which has produced some wildly different designs. From 2015 to 2017, Honda and Chevrolet developed their own body parts to affix to their respective team’s cars. The designs were innovative, but quickly became what most fans would consider ugly. The universal body kits unveiled in 2018 were a step in the right direction and are still in use today, with only minor and largely unseen changes implemented to help tweak the overall aero balance.
2020 saw the addition of the Aeroscreen, which was a generational leap in safety. Since its introduction, the cockpit protector has already saved multiple drivers from near-certain injury. It was the right solution at the right time, and it is fortunate that it could be so well integrated into the current chassis design, otherwise that update may very well have been delayed as well.
Even through it drastically changed the look of the car, the fact remains that the Aeroscreen is still just bolted on to the existing chassis, and the car itself did not take a leap forward in technology due to its addition. As elegant as the design looks, there is still the familiar Dallara DW12 sitting underneath. And there is still the same 2.2-liter turbo engine powering the rear wheels.
Other small safety innovations are coming next year, such as a more forgiving rear crash structure and a fix for the stagnating water that tends to accumulate on the windscreen in just the wrong location. But again, none of these updates comes close to constituting a generational change. A change that is now overdue.
The danger of being left behind
With IndyCar’s hybrid engine components the next, and currently only, new component with a defined implementation schedule for the next couple years, there are simply not many exciting changes on the horizon. Other popular series are introducing brand new formulas with much more regularity, and they are getting attention because of it. Those looking for new and flashy cars will be drawn to IMSA’s new LMDh prototypes or Formula E’s new Gen3 cars next season, and not a series that races cars fundamentally designed in 2012.
Nobody is doubting that IndyCar’s on-track product is good. In fact it’s one of the best around, especially if value is placed on a balanced field where half the drivers competing could realistically pick up a win on any given weekend. But any spec series will give you those same qualities. There is a reason that the Mazda MX-5 Cup, as just one example, does not get the same level of attention as IndyCar. There’s more to the entertainment equation than close finishes and unpredictable results.
A major part of that equation is the ‘Wow Factor.’ To be truly excited by a racing series, fans crave that Wow Factor with regularity. It can come from brave passing moves from elite drivers, spectacular-looking cars racing around scenic venues, or even disbelief that the cars themselves are physically capable of the extreme performance on display. Once a series has had the same cars competing for over a decade, the spectacle risks becoming normalized. Or even worse: boring.
Formula E is just a couple weeks out from introducing a radically new car, one that is replacing a car that was only four years old. And it’s not just the look that’s new. The third-generation car is 80 kilos lighter than the original spec from 2014, has nearly double the power, and has introduced four wheel drive. It’s a rapid maturation, and it has taken place entirely within the ongoing lifecycle of IndyCar’s DW12.
Innovation is necessary to stay relevant, and innovation is key to attracting new participants. In addition to the commercial factor, car manufacturers genuinely want to use racing as a way to advance their road-relevant technology. Tire manufacturers want to use on-track performance to guide new products consumers can buy. If the formula is static for too long, it risks falling onto the customer side of the equation rather than the design and testing side.
Every race series has its place, and IndyCar’s place is the premiere open wheel series in America. There should be innovation on display. There should be top-level drivers piloting nimble cars. And there should definitely be a Wow Factor that comes from showing off a unique and genuinely exciting race car.
IndyCar’s leadership needs to make sure that they can follow through with their own plans to advance the series into the next generation. The series is currently enjoying a wave of relative popularity, so the situation is not yet mission critical. But even casual fans are noticing that new technologies are seemingly always moving a bit further down the road. There needs to be something new and exciting on display before IndyCar loses relevancy amid a rapidly-advancing landscape.
