Signs points to Dallara as 2018 aero kit builder

It hasn't been announced yet, but all signs point to Dallara building the new aero kits for 2018.

"We are talking with IndyCar and of course we are interested in doing it but there are also other people interested," said Dallara USA CEO and general manager Stefano DePonti, whose Italian race car company built the current DW-12 chassis. "I imagine it's a six or seven-month process to build them and we're equipped to do it."

Jay Frye, president of competition for IndyCar, said Dallara was "in the mix" for the job and he hopes IndyCar can name the supplier in the next few weeks.

Since Chevrolet and Honda debuted their aero kits in 2015, it's been a one-sided battle with the teams from General Motors winning 23 of the past 32 races. Besides the results, those kits cost both manufacturers millions of dollars, so it was decided to go to a universal aero kit in 2018.

It's also possible that somebody else could design the new kits and Dallara would build them.

"It could be different," Frye acknowledged, "but I think everyone is going to like how the car looks."

This is the 20th anniversary of Dallara's involvement – starting with the Indy Racing League.

"Dallara basically is a small company that moved to the United States 20 years ago," said DePonti, whose company opened a shop on Main Street in Speedway four years ago. "Thanks to IndyCar basically we expanded our business, not only in the racing world, but IndyCar gave us the chance to establish an engineering company in Speedway, Indiana, and develop even more business.

"IndyCar is a legacy for Dallara, and it is in Dallara's DNA basically since 1997."