Is This the Future of the Indianapolis 500? A Look at the DeltaWing Racer

I’m out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and as part of the media, I get to see some pretty interesting stuff.

One of the things I saw today during Pole Day is a concept car called the DeltaWing Racer, created by the Ganassi Group as a concept car they have submitted to the ICONIC Indy Car racing committee, which is the committee that decides race car designs. DeltaWing’s goal is to have the design accepted for the 2012 Indianapolis 500.

While the photos you see here are for their wind tunnel model, which means the car is not an actual model of what they’re proposing. Plus they’re already 6 months out of date, you can get a good idea of what DeltaWing is proposing. Basically, if their model gets accepted, the company is going to release the entire set of designs to the public, the media, students, and the racing community, and let teams build their own designs.

I spoke with Ben Bowlby, Chief Technology Office, and he told me that this is the first time something like this has ever been proposed. It’s conceivable that every team could incorporate components and features of the DeltaWing into their designs, and we could have 33 unique looking cars in 2012.

The DeltaWing Racer will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until Sunday, May 23, 2010. You can also see it at www.DeltaWingRacing.com.

Photo credit: Erik Deckers (Picasa)