Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) confirmed its lineups in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT for the 2025 season.
Having announced the team would downsize from five entries to three for next season, questions lingered around who would remain with the organization. The answers: six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, back-to-back reigning champion Alex Palou, and incoming sophomore Kyffin Simpson.
Dixon and Palou will remain in their respective Honda-powered No. 9 and No. 10 cars. However, the 20-year-old Simpson will switch from the No. 4 car he drove during his rookie campaign to the No. 8, formerly occupied by 2024 Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist (who has yet to be confirmed for a ride next season). Marcus Armstrong, who also raced with CGR this past season, was previously announced at Meyer Shank Racing, whom CGR will have a technical alliance with starting in 2025.
CGR’s newly-formed Indy NXT program – the team’s first since 2007 – is set at two cars, with Irishman Jonathan Browne in the No. 9 entry and Dutch driver Niels Koolen in the No. 10.
“By all accounts, 2024 was another stellar year for our organization, with five IndyCar Series wins and our third championship in the last four seasons,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.
“As we move toward 2025, we are looking to defend the championship with a strong lineup of drivers, and look to continue Kyffin’s development and the development of our young drivers through our Indy NXT program.”
Scott Dixon in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
Dixon, the 44-year-old New Zealander who is nine wins away from tying legend A.J. Foyt’s all-time win mark of 67, shared his motivation to get back on track sooner rather than later.
“I’m excited,” said Dixon, who won two races en route to finishing sixth in the 2024 championship. “I’m ready to get going. I wish there wasn’t such a long offseason. We had lots of great races last year. It didn’t end the way that we would’ve liked, with some DNFs and some poor results here and there, but the team did a great job with great speed. I’m looking forward to the season, and obviously going for championship number seven.”
The 27-year-old Spaniard Palou is pushing to become the first three-peat winner since Dario Franchitti pulled it off from 2009-11. “2024 was another amazing season in the books,” Palou said. “The work doesn’t stop, and I can’t wait to be back on track with more hunger than ever in 2025!”
Simpson, a Barbados-born Caymanian, drove to a best finish of 12th (St. Petersburg) and also led multiple laps in last year’s Indy 500, said: “I am very excited to continue with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2025. I look forward to building on a strong start to my IndyCar career and I can’t wait to see what our team can achieve together.”
Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images
For Browne, who drove to a best result of sixth (St. Petersburg) in his rookie Indy NXT campaign last season, he hailed joining CGR as “very much a dream come true.”
Meanwhile, Koolen, who contested eight of 14 rounds in Indy NXT in 2024, driving to a best result of 10th (Indianapolis road course, Race 1), is eager for his maiden full-time campaign in IndyCar’s top development category.
“I’m excited to be doing my second year and first full season in Indy NXT,” Koolen said. “I look forward to working with Chip Ganassi Racing who have great pedigree and vast experience across many different categories.
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