Indy 500 Innovation: Can It Be Brought Back?

But wait, didn't I just point out that this is impossible because Dallara's been guaranteed sole chassis supply? Well, yes, I did point out that this is the case, but that doesn't make it impossible to keep people from designing their own cars...

You see, just because Dallara is guaranteed sole chassis supply doesn't mean they have to supply only ONE chassis design.

Nor does it mean that they have to be COMPLETE CARS.

Ground effects have been essentially spec for years now. That's not likely to change. So why can't Dallara provide, for privateers, an underbody (same one the full-time teams use), safety cell, and some basic INTERNAL crash structures that meet IRL requirements?

Design the crash structures to be housed inside some bodywork designed to give literally NO resistance in a crash (thereby not negatively impacting the crash-worthiness of the resulting car), which the privateer team can design using a cheap small-scale wind tunnel to maximize effectiveness.

Without having to worry about building the underbody aerodynamics, they're suddenly free to focus on what's a little more easily dealt with.

The expectation is that in 2011, IRL cars will be using four- or six-cylinder turbo engines. This is great news for people who would want to build their own IndyCar, as such a formula makes stock-block engines potential competitors once again.

A basic chassis for privateers would likely come out heavier than your average IRL car. So why not raise the minimum weight requirements for Indy only and let these guys have a shot at bringing a home-built car to race at Indy again?

Such cars may never win. But wouldn't you love to see a few capable of running fast enough to make the field?

Innovation is gone. It may never come back. But that doesn't mean we should let the spark that made innovation possible die. The Indy 500 was once a "run what you brung" event. Why not create something that can make it similar to those days, while still being able to maintain the IRL formula?

Take it from me. If I could get an underbody, tub, and crash structures from Dallara for about 100 grand or so...I do know some people who know how to work out aerodynamics.

And if the engine formula would give me the ability to tweak a Honda Civic or Mitsubishi Evo engine (yeah - I could get IndyCar power out of a turbocharged Civic engine EASILY. Question is: Would it survive a 500-mile race?) and drop it into a chassis made with a body made of carefully-crafted paper-thin aluminum, I'd be at Indy within a few years.

And you know what? If we got things to that point, I don't think anyone would care that innovation was gone.

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