Chevy vs. Honda: Who has early edge in IndyCar?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Graham Rahal is cautiously optimistic. Will Power is extremely optimistic. And Simon Pagenaud is intrigued.

The dominant species of aero kit in preseason IndyCar testing has undoubtedly been Chevrolet, but whether Honda's shortcomings so far are a result of more elite teams utilizing the Chevrolet kit — such as Power and Pagenaud's Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing — some elaborate sand-bagging exercise, simple inferiority or something else will be revealed when cars are scheduled to practice — weather permitting — Friday on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

The introduction of a new component produced by competing entities often produces a clear alpha. And Power feels squarely on the right side of history as he prepares to defend his series championship.

"It's just no question," he told USA TODAY Sports. "They're different, so one's going to be better and one isn't.

"First practice will be interesting, but I think I know how this is going to go. Unless Honda has been playing games really good, I think it will be all the Chevys and then all the Hondas."

That was basically the case at the lone full series test at Barber Motorsports Park last week, with 23 cars participating. After four sessions, Chevrolets held the top six and eight of 10 spots, with Power atop the charts at 123.010 mph. Rahal of single-car Rahal Letterman Lanigan was the top Honda at 122.448 with A.J. Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato 10th at 122.370. Honda's largest team, Andretti Autosport, was paced by 14th-place Ryan Hunter-Reay (122.035), who said teams "have a lot of bits to work out."

"What might be interesting is the Honda kit or Chevy kit might be better on a street course or road course or oval," Pagenaud said. "We don't know yet. You might see an advantage, one kit for a certain situation. And then the engine might compensate a situation or might amplify the situation."

If the "worst-case scenario," as IndyCar president of competition and operations Derrick Walker calls it, develops where "half the grid might as well stay at home," manufacturers may petition for up to three component upgrades after the season.

Walker said "very remarkably close" performance characteristics between Chevrolet and Honda engines indicates two components can be developed independently and produce similar and competitive results.

"There shows a trend that one manufacturer out of the box might be on it and have a slight edge but I don't think we've seen everything yet to be able to judge," he said. "They both went at it with different philosophies. It may be that one will take longer to develop because it is a little different from the others. So far there doesn't appear there's a big enough difference to be worried."

Rahal thinks that his Honda can compete with the Chevrolet horde eventually.

"Chevy seems to have a little edge right now, but it's hard to say," he told USA TODAY Sports. "We were the fastest Honda or one of them, but our car is not exactly settled yet. I watched some on-board footage on (Chevy-driving Sebastien) Bourdais and some of those guys and their cars are visually a lot better than mine, so that gives me hope. Because I think if we can settle things down, get the car working a little bit better I think we can close that gap.

"It's going to be interesting as the year progresses to see who gains the big advantage."

Then there's the test of which is tougher.

Whereas the Chevy aero kits are exude an athletic casual appearance, their Honda counterparts are markedly more ker-pow when fully brandishing the available arsenal of front wings, sort of a Michael Bay-inspired men's shaver. That's a lot of bits and pieces to aid the race car through the air, but a lot piece that could be broken into bits on a narrow course such as St. Petersburg.

"That's one of the concerns," Rahal conceded. "All those parts are pretty effective and if you knock one off, it's like, 'Well, then what happens?' And there's a lot of weight on those things. There's a lot of weight on the corners of the car. It's going to be interesting to see with durability. I don't think you can bump and bang like you used to be able to do."

That should make Turn 1 at St. Petersburg, a sweeping right-hander where drivers have cued melees with dive-bombing and blocking for positions – Marco Andretti was flipped upside down on the first lap in 2011 – extremely anxious for Honda drivers perhaps already at a speed deficit.

"What can you get away with versus what can't you?" Rahal pondered. "The other thing is, we really don't have a lot of spare parts if any right now. That's going to be a big part of this thing too come race day."

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