The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is finally taking steps to replace its ancient Dallara chassis, which has been in use since 2012. Initially known as the DW12, in recognition of the late Dan Wheldon’s work to develop the tub for competition prior to his death at the 2011 series finale on Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s oval track, the chassis has been updated several times, most recently adding the bell housing-installed hybrid unit in use since summer of 2024 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The current chassis has proven to be a safe one, particularly with the addition of the Aeroscreen that can deflect debris from a driver’s head. The sole issue with this safety item is its weight which, together with the added rear weight of the hybrid motor and battery has made the DW12 a rather portly conveyance. The Aeroscreen and hybrid unit have, together, changed the balance of the current chassis and shifted its weight to the rear.
INDYCAR, of course, wants its new chassis – one that was not shown at the announcement of its pending use as the sole chassis in this series – to be a successful successor to the DW12. In a press conference during the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, presented by AMR, the ninth in a 17-race schedule, INDYCAR president J. Douglas Boles declared, “The time has come for a new NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis. The DW12,” he remarked, “served the series so well, as it provided a combination of phenomenal, wheel-to-wheel racing and critical enhancements to safety.
“But,” Boles added, “recent significant updates to the car – from the Aeroscreen to the hybrid power unit – have helped advance the need for a completely new car. 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.”
Well, that’s Boles’ hope. Dallara have been producing chassis for the series since 1997, when it was the Indy Racing League (IRL); Dallara has been the series’ sole chassis supplier since 2008. At one time Panoz was a second supplier to INDYCAR and, in fact, won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with Buddy Rice at the helm of a Rahal Letterman Indy car.
That’a all past history.
Now INDYCAR is intending to produce a “more innovative, lighter-weight race car” that, hopefully won’t be asked to be the sole conveyance for the same period of time as DW12. The design concepts are centered on enhancing competition, easing powertrain development and, of course safety. Those are what INDYCAR intends to be the “pillars of the engineering, design and development” of this new car.
To that effect, the new design intends to make the car even more suitable for all types of tracks currently in use by he series: super speedways, short ovals, road courses and street circuits. The nature of the series demands an acceptable conveyance for all four disciplines.
While continuing with hybridization, which has added weight to the rear of the current car, INDYCAR intends to reduce weight by anywhere between 85 and 100 pounds. It’s also introducing a larger 2.4-liter turbocharged V-6 internal combustion engine (ICE) where currently, the teams race with a 2.2-liter V-6 turbo. This should add more torque and power over the current formula, INDYCAR contends. Weight loss isn’t limited to the chassis; Xtrac intends to provide a gearbox that is 25 pounds lighter from the current unit – and it will share components with a future INDY NXT by Firestone gearbox – thereby streamlining componentry for teams that race in both series.
The low-voltage hybrid engine technology that was introduced in July of 2024 will continue and evolve in the new race car. There will be longer deployment of the hybrid unit, added horsepower and overall improved performance, according to INDYCAR’s release about the new chassis design.
Has INDYCAR shown photos or renderings of what to expect in 2026? Nope. Not yet. The series said renderings and added technical details, together with added series partners, will be revealed at a later date. It expects the new car to be ready for testing sometime next year. We’ll have to wait and see…
Dallara makes chassis for all disciplines in both open- and closed-wheel racing. Surely they can innovate so that the new car doesn’t look like a clone of the old one which, thankfully, isn’t as ugly as the chassis that preceded it. This writer is hoping – against hope – that the series and its providers decide to produce a new car that really is innovative. That doesn’t look or feel like its predecessor. That really is lighter in weight, more powerful and equally as durable as the DW12. But not a clone to DW12. Never a clone.
By Anne Proffit
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