IndyCar 2028: Setting the engine formula

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RACER’S Marshall Pruett has spent the last year tracking developments with the IndyCar Series’ new chassis, engine, and the rest of what’s on the way for 2028, which we’re presenting in a multi-part feature. In the first two parts we laid out the timeline for the rollout and explained what to expect from the new chassis. Look out for additional installments in the coming days.

With a new IndyCar chassis on the way for 2028, the passion play for engine selection would be to bring back the powerful and throaty singing of the CART IndyCar Series’ 2.65-liter turbo V8s as the chosen formula. The other popular idea is to introduce something that’s never been – the screaming, naturally-aspirated V10s made popular in Formula 1 from 1989-2005 – in the tight confines at the back of an Indy car when the upcoming chassis changeover takes place.

Unfortunately, the process of setting the direction for IndyCar’s future powertrain specifications has had nothing to do with reaching back to yesteryear, or picking future formulas in isolation. It’s the way such things were done many decades ago, when a series would state the formula it wanted and hope the auto industry would show an interest. But times have changed. Listening, rather than dictating, is where the conversation starts.

With the help of IndyCar’s Sr. VP of competition and operations Mark Sibla, RACER was taken inside the process used by the series to arrive at the slightly larger motor – a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 with a new and heartier hybrid system that should bring almost double the power of the existing unit – that’s in the works for 2028.

“Whether it’s Honda or whether it’s General Motors with the Chevy brand, it’s constant dialog,” Sibla told RACER. “One of the things we’ve really tried to do is not only sit down with both of them, but sit down with them together and say, ‘Where do we have commonality? What are the things that you’re both looking to achieve, and then how do we go about achieving that?’ You’ve got to do that.”

Sibla and the rest of IndyCar’s leadership have approached the 2028 powertrain formula discussions with two key objectives to achieve. The first, in asking its current engine suppliers to share their forward-looking marketing and promotional needs, is relatively easy.

The other goal, the tougher task, is getting commitments from Chevy and Honda to remain in IndyCar after their supply contracts expire at the end of the 2026 season. So far, there’s been no public word from Chevy or Honda on whether they will stay, and that’s a risk IndyCar is forced to accept.

The two existing suppliers aren’t the only brands IndyCar has spoken with on the way to locking in the new powertrain specs. Other, unnamed car companies are known to have given favorable feedback on the direction that was ultimately chosen, which means the upcoming solution isn’t tied specifically to the wishes of Chevy and Honda.

As well, the series wants nothing more than to keep its two current suppliers and add one or two more to the roster, but at the moment, IndyCar is waiting to sign up its first official engine provider for the 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 era.

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“Honda has a decision that they need to make, and at the same time, we need to be mindful that Chevy also has a decision that they need to make,” Sibla said. “And I think we’re making real progress on both in the sense that we’re listening, we’re coming back, we’re saying, ‘This is what we heard you say, here’s where we see some commonality in what you both want.’ Then you say, ‘Okay, here’s what I’m learning from them. How do we go out and have conversations with others?’

“Very recently, these conversations have happened to where we say, ‘I’m not necessarily coming to sit down with you and pitch you on why you need to join IndyCar as an engine manufacturer. But what we want to say is we’ve been very proud of some of the commercial success we’ve had, and we’re also thinking about the future.’

“We talk about the new car with them, but we also talk about the powertrain. So we ask, ‘What are you as a brand seeing out in the motorsports space? Are you seeing where making sure that cost containment is very important? Are you seeing where parity is very important? How important is hybrid to you?’

“And I have been pleasantly surprised at just how open and transparent people have been about, ‘Here’s where our motorsports programs are. Here’s what’s important to us.’ Some have said, ‘Gosh, at the end of the day, we have to sell cars. So if you can come in and tell us a story about how we’re going to sell more cars, that’s great.’ Some have said, ‘We’re not really looked at that way. We’re looked at by how motorsports positions the brand in people’s minds.’

“So those are the conversations that we’re having; the themes that we’re hearing from people that aren’t in the series, and how they tie into what we’re hearing from the two that are in. We’ve got to hear what’s happening in the marketplace and what’s important to people so that we set everybody up for the most success. So much about this is just asking the questions and having the conversations, and that’s been the process.”

Sibla says the IndyCar’s meetings with auto manufacturers who aren’t in the series have been highly informative, as they bring fresh perspectives that aren’t always heard in the insular world of American open-wheel racing. Combined with all the series has heard from Chevy and Honda, the 2.4 with a harder-hitting energy recovery system is where the series landed.

“The folks at the current two OEMs are always educating us on things, and that’s why these are people that are tops of their industry for a reason,” he said. “So we always get their input and we listen. And we’ve sat down with some OEMS that, I know we’re not a fit for their brand or whatever, but it’s still good to hear what their input is, and what they are seeing.