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| Sebastien Bourdais' road and street course aero kit Chevy |
I have made my opinion known from the start, I have not been sold on the new Dallara chassis. I've called it a "joke", "ugly", and a "POS".
However, I have to admit I am starting to warm up to the new car........slowly.
If it can somehow keep the costs down, if the "aero kits" are consistently tinkered with and improved upon, if it provides competition between Chevy and Honda, and if it creates good racing with the little guys at times fighting up at the front, then I am all for it.
I think we have seen that so far this year with 7 different winners out of 8 races, with Chevy showing a superior car to Honda, and with Juan Pablo Montoya coming from 30th position to win the Indy 500 thanks to "tweaks" made to the car during the race, I am becoming a believer.
I am not completely on board yet, I think the rear bumpers need to be done away with for road and street course races seeing as they provide no protection against wheel-to-wheel contact since they break off at the slightest touch. They are completely useless and do nothing but provide work for the clean up crews since they are constantly out picking up pieces which slows the race down and frustrates the fans.
I can see a benefit however for the rear bumpers on oval races. If they improve the aerodynamics, which I think they do, then we can see higher speeds on ovals but at the same time we are getting a safer car.
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| Stefano Coletti's oval aero kit Chevy |
We still have a long way to go but I can see progress being made, I just hope it is not too late.
I'd like to see IndyCar succeed, even after all the negative things I have said over the years. But my love for open-wheel racing in America trumps the past and the open-wheel war that is over. I am on board with the new as long as they don't repeat the stupid mistakes of the past.
Working with the new car and making improvements is priority #1 and I can thankfully see that happening.
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| Marco Andretti's original street course Honda |
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| Carlos Munoz' modified street course Honda in Detroit |
