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NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ IR-28 Designed To Deliver Faster Cars with Chevrolet and Honda Powerplants, More Action, Improved Drivability
INDYCAR has unveiled the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis and powertrain package for 2028, introducing a car with a modernized look designed to provide for faster lap times and improved raceability encouraging more wheel-to-wheel action, while also creating the safest car yet for “The Fastest Racing on Earth.”
Working with Dallara to produce the IR-28 chassis, the new car will make its competition debut at the start of the 2028 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. The first renderings of the IR-28 were shared with the world this morning via a video (below) narrated by Academy Award winner and star of the box office smash hit “The Odyssey,” Matt Damon. A link to the introductory trailer is available here for social media sharing.
https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/3RZvzCMw-Z6BVOjjc.html
“We are pleased to unveil renderings of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis that will take our sport into an exciting new era,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “As you can imagine, a project of this magnitude takes an incredible amount of planning, collaboration and execution. I would like to thank all of our partners including Dallara, Chevrolet, Honda, Firestone and Shell, who have worked tirelessly to create a package that will enhance INDYCAR’s already incredible competition and industry-leading growth.
“With initial testing to begin this week, there is still plenty of work to do before 2028, but we are well on our way to showcasing a new era of INDYCAR, which will include enhanced wheel-to-wheel competition, track records, standards in raceability and new benchmarks in safety. We are confident the IR-28 is the ideal package to move INDYCAR forward for our teams, drivers, partners and fans.”
“We are honored that INDYCAR has chosen Dallara once again,” Dallara USA Chief Executive Officer Stefano dePonti said. “After more than a decade of partnership, their continued trust is the greatest recognition of our team’s efforts. This achievement demonstrates the dedication, expertise and collaboration of many individuals who worked tirelessly to create a car that meets today’s needs while looking toward the future. It also reflects Dallara’s ongoing commitment to investing in innovation and education, sharing the knowledge developed in motorsport with academia and beyond.”
Competition and Track Records
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES already is known as an intense and ultra-competitive championship, and the new car is prepared to take that reputation to another level as it builds on raceablity while enhancing speeds via additional power to advance the overall racing. The IR-28 is equipped to exceed current lap times and capable of breaking track records, including at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the last track records – one-lap and four-lap qualification records – were broken in 1996 by two-time Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Arie Luyendyk.
As part of the improved raceability, the IR-28 will weigh approximately 100 pounds less than the current car. The more favorable power-to-weight ratio enhances raceability to allow drivers to push harder and deliver even more competitive racing and wheel-to-wheel action.
New Car Design
Design of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES car begins with a sleek and modern look while retaining the unmistakable DNA of past iconic series cars. The entire car is newly designed and built from the ground up, ensuring many noticeable differences from the current car.
New front and rear wings, optimized for style and efficiency, give the road and street course car an aggressive stance, while the superspeedway wing configuration provides maximum downforce with limited drag in a sleek, high-speed looking package.
For the first time ever, the car’s aerodynamic architecture has been purpose-built to optimize the wake from the front to the back in order to enhance overtaking opportunities. Additional benefits of the 2028 design include reduced outwash and, for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a more aerodynamically stable speedway front wing.
The IR-28 aeroscreen, designed into the development of the car, is lighter, sleeker and more aerodynamic – supporting safety, more raceability and giving the IR-28 a fighter jet look and feel.
Each bodywork element has been designed to result in even closer on-track competition as the new aerodynamics will allow cars to follow more closely in corners and throughout the field.
Also for the driver, the new car will feature electronically controlled driver adjustable anti-roll bars, which will provide for enhanced tuning and raceability while cleaning up the cockpit by eliminating standard knobs and handles, thus, also improving driver safety.
Additional updates for the IR-28 include the introduction of the Custom AXIS Inertance Control Suspension System. Built around a lightweight, shared damping architecture, the AXIS platform expands spring, damper and inerter tuning options without increasing costs. Its highly tunable, multimode design improves mechanical grip through suspension optimization, reducing reliance on aerodynamic load while giving teams significant setup flexibility. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the only major motorsports championship to permit both front and rear third-element inertance systems, making the IR-28 one of the most advanced suspension platforms in modern motorsport.
From a fan and commercial perspective, the new car will feature a digital car position display showing the position of the car in practice, qualifying and races and a unique transparent window in the engine cover, which will highlight Chevrolet, Honda and any additional manufacturer branding. Design updates for 2028 also include more visible surface areas for series and team sponsorship.
2028 Powerplant
Previously announced, the power for the new 2028 NTT INDYCAR SERIES machinery will be provided by 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engines capable of producing up to 760 horsepower. Chevrolet and Honda have committed to participate under the new engine formula, which will deliver increased torque, power and overall performance compared to the current generation of INDYCAR SERIES engines.
“Everyone at Chevrolet is looking forward to this next era of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the debut of the IR-28 in 2028,” GM Vice President of Global Motorsports Competition Eric Warren said. “This new car builds on more than a decade of collaboration with INDYCAR, and we’re confident the new 2.4-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine will deliver the performance, sound and excitement INDYCAR fans expect from Team Chevy — the same standard that has produced 16 manufacturer championships and 13 Indianapolis 500 victories.”
“For more than 30 years, Honda has built upon its racing heritage as a key partner of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and we are excited to begin this next chapter with the IR-28 powered by our new American-made HRC V6 Hybrid powertrain,” Honda Racing Corporation USA President David Salters said. “INDYCAR delivers some of the best racing on the planet, and this evolution of the formula creates new opportunities to enhance it—a lighter car, a more powerful hybrid powertrain, an even safer chassis and exciting chassis, and aerodynamic engineering challenges for our Honda associates and teams.
“Together, these advancements will help usher INDYCAR into a new era. Honda is proud to be part of that future, supported by the long-term commitment we made to the series earlier this year. We can’t wait to see the IR-28 on track entertaining our INDYCAR fans.”
Low-voltage hybrid technology evolves in 2028 and beyond with greater power storage, more deployment options for teams and a package that is approximately 20 pounds lighter than the previous INDYCAR SERIES power unit. The significant performance advancement and deployment variability will be provided through a new partnership with UK-based Helix, a global leader in next-generation solutions in building and delivering electric drive systems.
With a client list that has included teams in FIA Formula One and FIA Formula E, and track-proven innovation that drives the hypercars of tomorrow, Helix’s hybrid design for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES remains packaged inside the bellhousing – located between the combustion engine and the gearbox.
The new hybrid platform will feature the first battery-based Energy Storage System (ESS) in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history, supplied by BOLD Technology, selected by INDYCAR for the program. Headquartered at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and expanding its U.S. operations in Michigan, BOLD develops advanced battery systems for Formula One, aerospace and defense applications. Its ESS for the IR-28 delivers approximately 14 times the energy storage capacity of the current supercapacitor-based system – giving drivers and teams far greater flexibility in when and how they deploy hybrid power – while contributing to the lighter, safer power unit package, engineered and qualified to the most stringent motorsport safety standards.
Xtrac, an exclusive supplier for INDYCAR since 2000 and a Helix associate, is providing transmissions for the new chassis. Development includes a gearbox that sheds 25 pounds from the current unit.
Safety Evolution
While the IR-28 provides quicker lap times, increased speeds and will allow for more on-track action, it also is designed to keep drivers safer than ever. From the aeroscreen to the roll hoop to side-impact structures, the new car seamlessly integrates recent safety and design advancements into its core architecture. Built to exceed INDYCAR or FIA specifications, whichever is more stringent, the new chassis delivers measurable safety improvements over the current car, including:
- Driver cockpit:
- The chassis features wider internal dimensions to accommodate a greater range of driver heights and body types.
- The IR-28 also features enhanced internal airflow and driver cooling for improved comfort and performance.
- Side impact protection:
- Decades worth of race and incident evaluations – including chassis additions – have created a chassis that features stronger, more efficient side-structure design providing increased energy absorption in high-impact situations.
- Crash dynamics:
- Improved stability with a natural tendency to remain grounded during “nose-up,” sliding or spinning incidents.
An extensive initial testing schedule for the new IR-28 will include a variety of circuits and layouts from Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and famed oval, Sebring International Raceway and more. Testing schedules and media availabilities will be provided at later dates.
What Select Drivers Are Saying
“Seeing the car for the first time made me even more excited about where INDYCAR is going. The design is super cool and feels like a proper next step for the series while still looking like an INDYCAR SERIES car. I think the fans are going to love it, and as a driver I cannot wait to get behind the wheel. The most important thing is that we keep the close, fun racing that makes INDYCAR special, and from what I’ve seen, we’re heading in a really good direction.” – Alex Palou, No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
“The car is awesome. We all wanted a new, modern-day car that is lighter and looks futuristic and fast but still has all of the incredible safety advancements that INDYCAR is known for. This does all of those things. There are still a lot of things to work through in terms of on-track testing and how it reacts to the different types of environments it will be exposed to, but from a visual standpoint, it’s incredible. This is something people will be excited about.” – Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House Chevrolet, ECR
“There is a ‘wow’ factor. The first thing that struck me is that it has more room in the cockpit and will fit differently-sized drivers, which is really good. Secondly, it definitely has the INDYCAR DNA, which was a worry for me that it wouldn’t look like an INDYCAR SERIES car. This definitely does. It also has an aggressive look with an integrated aeroscreen and a car that addresses a lot of little tweaks that drivers have asked for. Dallara has delivered on almost everything. I’m super excited for the future.” – Felix Rosenqvist, No. 60 SiriusXM Honda, Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian
Additional driver quotes will be available in a separate press release to be posted shortly.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland, round 13 of the 2026 championship, Sunday, Aug. 9. Coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One. Audio coverage is available via INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls on SiriusXM channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 