IndyCar drops LED panels

The NTT IndyCar Series has halted the use of roll hoop-mounted LED information panels until its next-generation chassis arrives in the coming years.

Having used two vendors and tried three different versions of the LED panels since 2015, the latest iteration of the display has proven to be problematic, unreliable, or both, as fans and teams have witnessed throughout the 2019 season.

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Due to the ongoing issues where panels on some of the Chevy- and Honda-powered Dallara DW12s fail to work as intended, the series directed its teams to remove the displays from all cars for last weekend’s ABC Supply 500 in Pocono, and has chosen to bench the LEDs altogether until a fully integrated design can be commissioned with the DW12’s replacement, expected in 2022.

In the place of the panels, IndyCar has mandated the use of the open space on the roll hoop fairings for larger car numbers, which addresses a frequent complaint from fans regarding the former use of small and often hard to read numbers.

It’s believed IndyCar could look to some of the tech-driven partners and sponsors within the series, including NTT Data and Arrow Electronics, to explore new ideas on how and where to present information such as pit stop duration, the activation of push-to-pass, and other interesting items to fans through car-mounted displays when the new chassis arrives.