IndyCar Finally Unveils 2028 Replacement For Dated 14-Year-Old Chassis

While the current Dallara DW12 chassis has survived 14 years of service with continual safety and performance updates, it should have been replaced years ago. The exhausting wait for a new car may be nearly over. IndyCar unveiled the Dallara IR-28, which is slated to make its competitive debut in 2028. I won't believe the IR-28 is truly coming until I see a test car running on a track, because we've been here before only for a planned successor to be delayed.

At first glance, the IR-28 features a hallmark of a modern single-seater race car: curved transitions between main planes and end plates. The design feature was widely adopted in Formula 1 to reduce wake turbulence and promote closer racing. However, this isn't simply F1 machinery with an Indianapolis twist. The aeroscreen that IndyCar introduced in 2020 to improve cockpit safety is now a fully integrated part of the chassis rather than a bolt-on addition. The series claims that IR-28 will be 100 pounds lighter than the current car. In a press release, 2026 Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist:

"There is a 'wow' factor. The first thing that struck me is that it has more room in the cockpit and will fit differently-sized drivers, which is really good. Secondly, it definitely has the INDYCAR DNA, which was a worry for me that it wouldn't look like an INDYCAR SERIES car. This definitely does. It also has an aggressive look with an integrated aeroscreen and a car that addresses a lot of little tweaks that drivers have asked for. Dallara has delivered on almost everything. I'm super excited for the future."

The current supercapacitor-based hybrid system in IndyCar could be best described as 100 pounds of dead weight. The feeble hybrid, introduced in the middle of 2024, can produce at most 60 horsepower for 5 seconds. On ovals, most teams opt for a lower output for a more persistent boost. If the poor capabilities were the only issue, it would only be annoying. The hybrids are far from reliable, and failures are significant enough to force race retirements.

IndyCar is ditching supercapacitors for the IR-28's hybrid system. It will be fitted with a battery-based system, as in F1 and most endurance prototypes. The new hybrids will have 14 times more energy storage capacity and weigh 20 pounds less than the current system. The hybrid will supplement a new 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 engine that produces 760 horsepower.

The Dallara IR-28 isn't a revolution but a long-awaited evolution for a product that has had many ups and downs over the past dozen years. In 2016, IndyCar first announced an extension of the DW-12 service life until 2021. The series introduced the IR-18 spec aerokit in 2018 as a stopgap to ditch its previous dirty-air-throwing, car-launching aero package. However, the financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the launch date to 2027, then 2028. I'm so tired of waiting for IndyCar to invest in itself.