Penske Entertainment has taken a significant step forward with its next IndyCar chassis.
RACER has learned the parent company of the NTT IndyCar Series and its official chassis supplier Dallara have moved from showing virtual renderings of its 2027 car to its team owners in October to building a scale model of the car and performing wind tunnel tests with its future chassis.
RACER understands the real-world testing, which is an important early step in evaluating various shapes and overall aerodynamic concepts, commenced in recent weeks at Dallara.
As with the renderings, a Penske Entertainment representative declined a request to provide images of the wind tunnel model.
Penske Entertainment has yet to f inalize the looks of the 2027 car. Drawing from the development process for the last IndyCar chassis, the Dallara DW12 that debuted in 2012, the 2027 car is coming along on a similar timeline. Dallara completed its design for the new DW12 tub — the driver safety cell — in December of 2010, and by February of 2011, the aerodynamics for the car were locked into place. With all of 2025 and 2026 to come, Penske and Dallara have a considerable amount of time to use on any areas of the 2027 car it targets for refining.
