INDYCAR To Debut Lighter Car In 2028 With More Power

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — The new INDYCAR vehicle to debut in 2028 will be lighter with a more powerful engine.

Those features were expected, as INDYCAR released some details about the new car. Teams, however, had hoped that it could be rolled out in 2027. The current car has been used since 2012, with various additions such as the aeroscreen and the hybrid.

The new car will be 85 to 100 pounds lighter than the current car, which ranges from 1,635 to 1,785 pounds — depending on whether it’s at a speedway or road course. The new engine will be a 2.4-liter, V-6 twin-turbocharged engine, which should have more power than the 2.2-liter, V-6 twin-turbocharged engine currently used. Hybrid technology will continue.

“The new car will obviously be safer,” Penske Corp. Chairman Roger Penske said a few weeks ago at Detroit. “It should be lighter. It should be able to compete in road racing without having this bubble in between the cars. And it should be faster.”

INDYCAR will continue to use many primary suppliers: Dallara to build the chassis, Xtrac for transmissions and PFC for brakes. Engine suppliers? Those are still up in the air, as Chevrolet and Honda are signed only through 2026.

“Recent significant updates to the car — from the aeroscreen to the hybrid power unit — have helped advance the need for a completely new car,” INDYCAR President Doug Boles said in a statement. “We are pleased by what our engineers and Dallara have collaboratively designed and believe it will appeal to the fans and paddock, while also upholding our standards of safety and enhancing INDYCAR’s on-track competition well into the future.”

INDYCAR says that thorough on-track testing will begin in early 2026.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.