Honda Performance Development president Robert Clarke said in October that the IndyCar Series manufacturer was prepared to supply engines for the entire Indianapolis 500 field. source: indycar.com / By Dave Lewandowski The two-time defending manufacturer champion will be put to the test with the 90th running of the 500-Mile Race on May 28. Indy Racing League president and chief operating officer Brian Barnhart and Clarke announced that the IndyCar Series will field only Honda Racing Indy V-8 engines beginning with the 2006 season. Barnhart pointed to Honda's renewed commitment to the IndyCar Series and decisions made individually by IndyCar Series teams to switch to Honda as the primary reasons for the single-engine program. Barnhart also said the announcement allows Toyota to pursue its motorsports goals, accelerates by a year the Honda agreement, and generates cost savings for teams. "Providing engines for the entire IndyCar field is a dramatically different role for Honda from that as one competitor in a multi-manufacturer championship," Clarke said. "It is an opportunity that provides numerous new challenges, not only for HPD, but for several departments at American Honda as well. "Certainly, manufacturing and preparing sufficient primary and backup engines for all 33 starters at the Indianapolis 500 will be a major effort, and it is vitally important, given our new circumstances, that we treat and care for all IndyCar competitors equally. We are confident of meeting this need and look forward to working with the IRL to grow the IndyCar Series in the seasons to come." It won't be the first time one engine powered the 33 cars in the Indianapolis 500. Offenhausers were used in the 1954, '55, '59 and '60 "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." The 1960 race holds the record for most lead changes (29). In 1998, 32 cars on the grid were Oldsmobile Aurora-powered. There were 23 lead changes. In 1983, Cosworth powered 32 of the 33 starters.
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