Ford eyes IndyCar return (3rd Update)

Dave Pericak knows Ford cannot beat Chevy and Honda in IndyCar

UPDATE This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today. Ford Performance director Dave Pericak has denied rumors that Ford is planning a return to IndyCar Series competition in the near future.

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com at Daytona on Friday, Pericak said he was aware of the speculation but insisted that it was unfounded.

"Yeah, there's rumors flying again, it's crazy," he said. "There are no plans for us to return to Indy, I can tell you that we're not looking to do that.

"It's partly due to the relevance. IndyCar is fun, it would be great to go and do it, but it's not why we do what we do. It's just not at the heart of what we're doing [in motorsport]."

08/10/16 As first reported by AR1.com a week ago, one of the prime reasons IndyCar was switching back to a common aerokit was to get Ford or another manufacturer to come onboard as an engine supplier. Having to also develop and aerokit is a huge barrier to entry. To confirm our report from a week ago, IndyCar boss Mark Miles had this to say today:

"We think that we can make it easier for a third OEM, and hopefully more OEMs, to join us by taking away obstacles for their involvement," IndyCar CEO Mark Miles told RACER.

"We're not interested in simply cutting costs or simplifying IndyCar if it came at the expense of the appeal or performance of our racing," he said. "We want to have more appealing racing, which is why we're testing some things and evaluating the best way to preserve the quality racing we have and potentially introduce something new to the mix that helps with some of the bigger items on our agenda."

"As Jay was on-boarded for the new job as president of competition and operations, a lot of time was spent thinking on our priorities as we look to the future," Miles said. "Some of them were very clear, and some of them have been worked on collaboratively with our stakeholders – using the expertise in the paddock. It's very much a follow-on from a common sense-driven set of priorities."

But why are they waiting until 2018 to do it? Is it so Honda can continue to tow the parachute around short oval, road and street courses for another full year with zero chance of winning?

08/05/16

Will Ford Cosworth be back in IndyCar?

We hear IndyCar is shopping around the engine proposal to 3 or 4 manufacturers, Ford being one of them. While Cosworth can build the engine for anyone, much like Ilmor does for Chevy, there is a much bigger investment for the manufacturer who signs up – they must help new teams come onboard, test, advertising, and promotion of IndyCar. It's a large investment with the Cosworth engine being just one part of it.

We hear now that IndyCar will be switching to a standard bodykit, that barrier to entry is now gone.

08/04/16 There are more rumblings in the IndyCar rumor mill about Ford joining IndyCar with Ganassi in 2018. Will be interesting to see if it happens and whether Cosworth does the engine for them as they did in the CART/Champ Car days.

Ford won't come in unless it gets a top team to be competitive and Ganassi fits the bill.