IndyCar '18 road course bodywork reveal coming

IndyCar fans could get a good look at next year's universal bodywork in road course trim and learn more details about the partners involved with the project later this week.

"We're hoping in the next week to put out some renderings," IndyCar competition president Jay Frye told RACER. "We hope we can put out renderings that are 99 percent what it is. And we're hoping at that point we can start to talk about manufacturers, who's going to build it. Talk about who's going to test it and the process, how we're going to do it, that type of thing. So we're close, real close."

"It appears there's great enthusiasm for the universal car," he said of the new bodywork and approach to generating downforce that will replace the current aero kits in use. "Again, so far, it's all been aesthetics. Everybody, it appears, really likes the look. There's been no pushback in any way on the actual look. That's been really what we've had at this point. At some point, the next thing we're going to have to have is the actual car. Then the performance, the track testing piece, will be coming up shortly after that."

Tentative on-track testing for the new-look Dallara DW12 is expected to commence in July.

"The wind tunnel [data] has been very good," Frye continued. "It's exceeded expectations. I think we've been in six or seven times with scale cars. The numbers are coming back really well. But again, until you actually get on the track, in my opinion, you don't really know. That will be coming up this summer."

Part of the thinking behind the switch from Chevy- and Honda-built aero kits to spec universal bodywork has been to reduce the giant road course/short oval downforce numbers produced today. An estimated loss of 800 pounds of total downforce should allow drivers to corner with great speed while reaching bigger top speed figures.

"It should perform, we think, at a very high level, and It should be fast," Frye said. "It should have the downforce in the right places. It should be racier. It should be where there's not all the turbulence that comes off the back of the car as it is now. There's a lot of performance enhancing gains. The safety piece of the car's better. We're really excited about it. So again, until we actually get the car on the track, we're hesitant to say what it will do, but we're confident it will be good."