Chevrolet wants bigger IndyCar line-up for 2014

The manufacturer currently expects to supply 11 full-time entries this year, two fewer than in 2013 due to the expected absence of Dragon Racing.

Chevrolet's IndyCar programme manager Chris Berube told AUTOSPORT that he is targeting a return to last year's numbers.

"We are less than what we supplied last year, and that was the level we'd like to be at," Berube said. "So we can take on another couple of cars this year.

"Whether it comes from our existing teams adding cars or a new team ... it's a little more difficult to add a whole new team than it is to add cars, but as it stands we're at 11 cars, and last year it was 13 for most of the season."

While he hopes to add to Chevrolet's car count, Berube is pleased with the strength of his line-up.

Powerhouses Penske and Ganassi will both use Chevrolet engines, as will Indianapolis 500-winning team KV Racing Technology, recent race winner Ed Carpenter Racing, and Panther Racing.

"The depth of the talent is stout," he said. "I don't think we're any worse off this year [in that regard]. But we all have to grow, and we have to give them more power and more durability.

"We're pretty happy [with the new engine]. We're finetuning now, but that's very important - that could be the difference between a race-winning application, and one that just creates power. The drivers have to know how to wield it."

Rival Honda also currently has 11 cars confirmed for 2014, although that is expected to grow to 13 when second cars are signed off for Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Dale Coyne Racing.

2014 IndyCar line-up so far:

Team                    Engine Driver(s)
AJ Foyt Racing          Honda  Takuma Sato
Andretti Autosport      Honda  M Andretti/C Munoz/J Hinchcliffe/R Hunter-Reay
Bryan Herta Autosport   Honda  tba
Chip Ganassi Racing     Chevy  S Dixon/T Kanaan/R Briscoe/C Kimball
Dale Coyne Racing       Honda  Justin Wilson/tba
Ed Carpenter Racing     Chevy  Ed Carpenter (ovals)/Mike Conway (road/street)
KV Racing Technology    Chevy  Sebastien Bourdais/Sebastian Saavedra
Panther Racing          Chevy  tba
Rahal Letterman Racing  Honda  Graham Rahal/Tba
Sarah Fisher Hartman    Honda  Josef Newgarden
Schmidt Peterson        Honda  Mikhail Aleshin/Simon Pagenaud
Team Penske             Chevy  JP Montoya/H Castroneves/W Power