Frye: More manufacturers becoming a necessity

Jay Frye and Mark Miles

In yesterday's press conference with IndyCar CEO Mark Miles and IndyCar President Jay Frye, AutoRacing1.com asked about the rumored new engine manufacturers coming into the series, and when.

IndyCar President Jay Frye says that the prospect of a third manufacturer joining Honda and Chevrolet as engine suppliers is moving from a “luxury" to a “necessity" with the ongoing growth in series entries.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm — we talk to lots to them every day," Frye told the media at Barber Motorsports Park of the series’ discussions with OEMs. “A lot of what’s going on with it is timing, because it’s a huge commitment. They have to build engines. The ones that we’re currently talking to want to build their own engines, so that’s a key indicator when you talk to somebody about their commitment. So we’re sorting through that.

“Part of what’s going on is you talk about the five-year plan and the fields are getting bigger and the teams are coming in, at some point it’s not going to become a luxury, it’s going to become a necessity as we grow. We’re not quite to that point yet, but we’re getting close, so we’re looking forward to who’s next."

Frye agreed that adding a third engine could affect the timeline of the planned switch from the current 2.2-liter formula to 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 engines, originally intended to be implemented for 2021, but if the new manufacturer(s) don't commit on time, it could delay the new engines a year.

“Right now everything is full speed ahead. But again, it depends on the timing of all this stuff," Frye said. “The 2.4, we’re confident in everything we’ve got organized with that. That was with the partnership of Chevrolet and Honda to come up with that platform. Right now it’s ’21 through ’26. It can move either way I guess at this point still. Part of that will be the next OEM partner, what their input would be or how they would want to go about it. Obviously, Chevrolet and Honda are very keen to have another come in, so if another one came in and it was a delay or some sort of different situation, anything like that could be possible."

Lucille Dust reporting live from Barber for AR1.com