Why are INDY cars so ugly ?

yes

 

I just looked it up and they are currently running V6 engines

 

I just noticed that during the pit stops in this race

 

The Indy cars are bad ass. They made the changes due to increased speeds and to improve the safety factor as well. After loosing some great drivers the last few years, it was a change overdue. I also think that since we have more new young drivers and few old timers left , they wanted thier own car. No different than Nascar ,when Dale SR. passed away..the car needed inprovements to match the repaved tracks ,better tires, improved handling and suspensions. The old Indy cars were designed to fall apart when hit, thus , they thought displaced the force of the crash to all parts of the car. This was found untrue in controlled Indy crashes, The actually went to Nascar for some pointers. They decided to rebuild the cars, smart idea if you ask me. The cockpits are now molded around the drivers and they use a lot if carbon fiber parts compared to fiberglass,and resins. The car was designed to take an impact and not fall apart so much , the drivers are more proteced when they "pour" them in the car, compared to just throwing any seat on there and gassin it.
I think it was a great improvement. Some people dont like change, but most of the time it is for the best as it was in this case. My two cents..