Brian Barnhart was kind enough to speak to LemmingNet about technology and the Indy Racing League.

LN-	Thanks for agreeing to talk with us, Brian.
BB-	My pleasure.
LN-	Perhaps you'd like to just sort of discuss where you see the Indy Racing League going in terms of technology.
BB-	In a general sense, or about engines specifically?
LN-	Whichever you prefer.
BB-	Wow, that's a lot of ground. I guess to begin with I'd have to restate the IRL's commitment to keeping costs down. That's really fundamental to the direction we see for ourselves, and we believe it's what our fans want to see, as well.
LN-	So technology-wise, you're saying that you're basically a cost-driven organization?
BB-	Yeah, that's probably right. If we can get the same job done in terms of performance with a $90k motor instead of a $250k motor, that's obviously the direction we'd like to take. Of course, we've had to move slower in that direction than perhaps we'd prefer, but the current package provides a good intermediate step.
LN-	Could you expand on that?
BB-	Sure. We started, largely out of necessity, with 2.65 liter turbocharged Fords, and if memory serves they were good for around 850 horsepower. They were also quite expensive. Mr. George rightly suggested that 650 to 700 horse would be completely adequate for our needs, both in terms of speeds on the sorts of tracks we run and for the skills of our drivers. Our current 3.5 liter naturally aspirated engine meets our needs at the moment, but even with League mandated pricing at $90k per, they're quite a bit more expensive than we'd like to see. Running the kind of revs necessary to get that output out of a 3.5 liter takes some expensive technology.
LN-	So what do you see as being an ideal solution?
BB-	There's an old drag racer's line that says something about the only substitute for cubic inches being cubic money. Eventually, we'd like to see a seventeen or eighteen liter engine spec, limited down around 1800 rpm. That'd give the little guys a real chance, just like in the old days. Anybody could have a truckload of sand delivered and be casting blocks within a few hours from League-approved wooden bucks provided by one of our approved manufacturers. We'd mandate the buck rental price at around $20, and one set should last for years as long as they don't get left out in the rain by one of the really low-buck outfits. All in all, a team should be able to get a complete engine together for well under a thousand dollars, maybe less if they make their own rope gaskets.
LN-	That would make a significant difference to some struggling teams.
BB-	It's not just about cost. That sort of specification is much more noise efficient, as well.
LN-	Noise efficient? I'm not familiar with that term.
BB-	It's a simple principle. All engines, from the lowliest tin-can Honda to the most powerful, umm, what's that big powerful American car again?
LN-	Cadillac?
BB-	Yeah, to the most powerful Cadillac, are capable of producing almost infinite horsepower. Even the teeniest weedwacker could make enough power to push a locomotive through the highest mountains in Indiana. The problem is, an engine making place-
LN-	A factory?
BB-	Yeah, a factory, is a very noisy place. Lots of equipment, lots of machines, they're really noisy inside. Anyway, as the engine is being made all of this noise gets packed up real tight inside, really screwed down in there. The noise is kind of like cholesterol and clogs up the engine, slowing it down and keeping it from making the power it could.
LN-	This is fascinating.
BB-	Isn't it, though? Anyway, the key to getting more power from an engine is to help more of that noise get out. It's like when you get a hole in your muffler, and suddenly you've got all of this extra power- that's because you're letting more noise escape from the engine. That's why glass-packs work so well; I put them on all of my cars.
LN-	I think I follow you now.
BB-	I know, it's kind of hard to get your head around at first. Like I said, you've got to let the noise escape. That's one of the problems with CART's engine spec. They're a nice engine, but even turning those really high revs and using all of that expensive technology the cars themselves only end up around ten mph faster than ours. The problem's that turbo- it traps all of the noise inside and slows them down. That's why they're so quiet, too.
LN-	That makes sense, sort of.
BB-	Stay with me, now. An eighteen liter, sandcast block making 650 horsepower at 1800 rpm is going to make an absolutely ungodly sound, a noise completely unknown in human experience. And it's gonna be loud, incredibly loud, insurance claim loud. It'll be noise efficiency incarnate. We might even try a two-stroke.
LN-	This is really exciting.
BB-	For the chassis-
LN-	We're out of time.
BB-	I know. For the chassis, we'll-
LN-	Would you like to come back and talk about chassis?
BB-	Uh, OK.
LN-	Thanks again for your time, Brian.
BB-	It's been my pleasure.