As fans and casual observers, it may feel like the point of racing is race day itself. For an engine-supplier like Honda and IndyCar as a whole, though, that’s not necessarily the case. Beyond making sure the books balance, Salters said, “then you’ve got to justify your existence. Is that [idea] relevant?” In a world where there’s no real use for something wild like a small-displacement V12 outside of racing, why invest in developing an engine like at all? Any use you could think of in a road car would be better served by a cheaper engine with significantly fewer parts.
“It’s got to be relevant,” Salters continued, “because again, we’re also trying to develop relevant technology here.” Presumably, that means making powertrain choices that engine suppliers believe will eventually benefit their road cars, whether in the form of more advanced tech, smaller components, more durable components, and so much else. Sadly, in answering the question the way he did, Salters bordered on confirming that Honda has no plans to develop a V12-powered supercar in the near future, but that’s also a bit like me confirming Gronk and I didn’t do karaoke together after the race. It didn’t have to be confirmed to be assumed.
Still, IndyCar isn’t all about Excel spreadsheets, accounting, and making sure the 2047 Honda Odyssey handles better than it should. At its core, Salters said “it’s got to be entertaining.” Even with hybrid powertrains stuffed into cars with single-digit numbers of cylinders. However, if you’ve skipped IndyCar because it didn’t sound exciting enough on paper, or the engines didn’t sound amazing enough in videos, having just been at the Indy 500, I can promise you it’s already plenty entertaining. I mean, they drive race cars at speeds north of 200 mph burning a fuel I’m sure everyone involved would prefer I don’t call legal moonshine.
Sorry, IndyCar. You run the Indy 500 in a state that’s 98% corn, and I don’t know anything else about the guy, but I can tell you what my half-uncle’s biological grandfather would have called a race fuel that’s pure ethanol. And if you told him we were racing cars north of 230 mph on good, old-fashioned white lightning, I bet he would have said that sounds like a kick-ass time. Which is the correct take, because even in 2026, race cars burning moonshine kicks so much ass.
