By alley - May 22, 2015, 6:11 AM ET

Indy 500: Chevy, Honda anticipating additional entries for 100th Anniversary race

Next year's 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 is expected to feature an expanded number of entries for the centennial event, and according to the Verizon IndyCar Series' manufacturers, accommodating additional requests for engines and aero kits will be part of their planning for 2016.

"I think next year we'll be in a better position to handle more than this year," said Chevy IndyCar program manager Chris Berube. Honda Performance Development vice president Steve Eriksen knows to plan for more cars, and says the details on how to provide extra Indy 500 engine leases will soon be addressed. "We haven't talked through the 100th anniversary effect and its impact, but we know it should be an event where a lot of people will want to participate," he said.

The size of the field in 2015 has been limited due to the ability of both manufacturers to supply enough of the new aero kits for their respective teams to use with their 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engines. Chevy and Honda split the Indy's 34 entries equally with 17 engines/aero kits apportioned to their teams, but the figure is likely to rise next May when current IndyCar teams and those in other forms of racing look to take part in the history-making event.

Having the luxury of a one-year head start on IndyCar's grand celebration should ease the recent supply issues, but as Berube explains, the pool of available engines won't increase by a significant margin.

"Frankly, the supply of the actual aero kit bits was a bit behind where it needed to be this year, and we do have an upper limit on the total quantity of engines we could do," he said. "But I would imagine that we'd be in a better position to support more next year. The exact number is TBD. And we wouldn't supply an engine without an aero kit or vice versa. It's a package."

Chevy and Honda do not want to discourage new teams from participating in the 100th Indy 500, and as Eriksen notes, the best thing for interested parties is to reach out and express their interest early.

"It's almost easier for me to handle more full season entrants than to handle a lot of additional folks just during the month of May because your pool size, your engine pool size, is dictated by the month of May," he said. "If it wasn't for supporting 17 or 18 cars that we've had at Indy in the last couple of years, our pool size could actually be smaller. To go up beyond the 17 or 18 that we traditionally support means buying more engines for the month of May.

"Each additional engine costs us money, and although we know to keep a bigger number in mind, I think will be a challenge if there are a lot more entrants next year. The earlier we're made aware of how many are really intending to race next year, the easier it will be to figure out how many we can realistically handle."

The best solution for both brands, not to mention IndyCar, would be the introduction of a third engine supplier to divide the grid three ways. The series has guidelines in place that call for a two-year onboarding process, but Eriksen would rather see another competitor join the engine wars for 2016 if possible.

"I keep telling IndyCar, if you've got anybody that are even the least bit interested, have them come talk to us so we can help sway them into the fray," Eriksen said. "There is an expectation of kind of a two-year notification period – that if you are going to be Kia, or whatever, and you come in with a Cosworth engine, then you'd essentially give Chevy and us a two-year notice. But I would bet that if somebody came along that, if indeed Cosworth had an engine already to go, for sure, we would all be looking at making that happen."