Hornish predicts closer racing

The cars will have to run more wing than last year, and several drivers are expecting it to allow more cars into contention for a top result.

"It will be a little bit tighter field, of course," said Hornish. "If you add more wing angle, it's going to make it a little bit easier for the cars to draft up, and the car will be easier to drive."

However, Hornish does not feel that the change is necessarily a good thing, as it could take away some of the talent required to race at the front.

"The unfortunate part about it is that it's going to bring more of the pack together," he said.

"I thought we saw a fantastic race in the closing laps last year. You had five or six guys fighting for the win and capable to win.

"You saw one of the closest finishes that we've had in IndyCar Series history. Why we're doing it, I'm not sure. But that's the choice of the technical group."

Former champion Dan Wheldon won last year's race by 14 thousandths of a second from Helio Castroneves, and he agreed that the entire field will close up due to the extra downforce on the cars for this year.

"It's very hard when you run that much wing to get any disparity between the top car and perhaps the slowest," he said.

"With the way that the rules are going in IndyCars, I think we're going to see even closer finishes."