By Andrew Cutler
November 10 2009

It's been a long time since there has been much of anything to report on the IRL's plans to develop the next generation of IndyCars, which should be ready in time for the 2012 season. However, I just found one interesting - and, IMO, potentially exciting - piece of news: The door has not been completely shut on the idea of multiple chassis options.

In an interview with Racer magazine, Brain Barnhardt (the IRL's President of Competiton) stated that ; “We're not opposed to opening things up, as one business model would show it,” when asked if current supplier Dallara would still be the only chassis builder going forward, as most sources seemed to speculate.

Nonetheless, he didn't rule the single supplier option out, either, noting that; “We're just going to try to measure both those out right now before making a decision on which way to go, on which would be the best financial way to go.” Barnhardt made it clear that helping the teams contain their operating expenses would be the foremost factor that the IRL will consider when reaching a final decision on the matter.

Dallara Automobili became the de facto sole chassis provider to the IRL in 2006 when the IndyCar teams abandoned the use of the American-made Panoz/G-Force. It is the desire to avoid the costs of such a mid-season switch in the future that has lead most people to believe that Dallara would remain the sole chassis provider once the specifications for the new generation car were finalized.