Chip Ganassi’s IndyCar team doesn’t have a pecking order among its drivers.
“Some teams have a Number 1 and a Number 2,” the Fox Chapel car owner told the Post-Gazette on Wednesday. “We don’t have any of that. We have four Number 1s.”
It’s that philosophy that helped the team triumph in the Indianapolis 500 in 2022, when Marcus Ericsson positioned himself well to win in racing’s biggest event after pit road troubles foiled teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, who’d dominated much of the race.
A year later, that depth of top-end speed has only improved. Four Ganassi drivers will start in the top 10 on Sunday, with last year’s trio being joined by two-time race champion Takuma Sato.
Palou will lead the field to green after winning the pole last weekend with a sizzling four-lap qualifying average of 234.217 miles per hour, the fastest in race history. Dixon is sixth on the grid, followed by Sato in eighth and Ericsson in 10th.
The hope is that depth will give Ganassi’s team the ability to again control the race and dictate the action, rather than simply compete. But more dominance will not be easy.
“The race itself is gonna be a little tougher than last year, I think,” Ganassi said. “I think there are a few other cars in there that I think can run with us.”
Among them are the four Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolets — led by Felix Rosenqvist in third — that have each secured top 10 starting spots, as well. Ganassi also has his eye on Team Penske’s Will Power — who won the race in 2018 — and the Andretti Autosport Hondas of Kyle Kirkwood and Romain Grosjean.
Still, the Ganassi cars have done a good job of keeping that competition at bay so far. Palou leads the IndyCar point standings. Ericsson is a healthy third. And Dixon is seventh despite some bad luck with accidents in the first four races.
For his part, Dixon is hopeful he can bounce back from those woes and last year’s heartbreak — his race was doomed by a pit road speeding penalty less than 30 laps from the checkered flag — to earn his second win in the big race.
“I think the team’s very confident,” said Dixon, who last August passed Mario Andretti for second on IndyCar’s all-time wins list. “I think the speed, if you break it down for us in the Number 9 car, has been very good with the qualifying position. We’ve worked on a lot. The car’s been more competitive.”
The race will unfold at a heady time for motorsports worldwide. Formula One has exploded in popularity amid the success of its companion Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” which has turned drivers into mainstream pop culture figures.
For the first time, that series will stage three races in the United States this year amid intense interest from fans. And there are signs that interest is bleeding over into American open wheel racing, as well.
Forbes reported Wednesday that the big race at the Brickyard is sold out and will see its largest crowd since the 100th anniversary race in 2016. This after more than 85,000 turned out over two days just to watch qualifying sessions.
It’s for those reasons that both Ganassi and Dixon said they don’t feel threatened by F1’s growth in the States. Rather, they see it as an opportunity to reach new American fans as a more accessible and — frankly — more exciting version of F1, which is prone to single-team dominance and a lack of passing at the top.
“It’s by far the best show of any of the categories,” Dixon said of IndyCar. “It’s just getting people to tune in, getting people to see it and go to it. Trust me, F1 is — as far as a show — nowhere near close to IndyCar, I don’t feel like. ... I don’t think there’s any pressure to put on a good show because it’s the best show, for sure.”
A show Ganassi’s drivers are well positioned to have a starting role in yet again. The green flag will drop at 12:45 p.m. Sunday and the action will air on NBC.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: May 27, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
