Note: This is the first in a series of 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES team previews on INDYCAR.com. The season starts Sunday, March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding (noon ET, FOX, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Starting Lineup: Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Honda), Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda), Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Honda).
2024 in Review: Given the amount of team success over the past three-plus decades, a perfect season for Chip Ganassi Racing is an Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge victory coupled with an NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, and the Indianapolis-based organization achieved only half of those goals last year. But shed no tears for Chip Ganassi’s team as Palou delivered its 16th series title, and the five drivers combined for four race wins and four poles. Palou’s championship was his second in succession and third in four years, and he won two races and three poles. The Spaniard opened the season with five top-five finishes, highlighted by a win from the pole in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after leading 39 of the 85 laps. He also won the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from the top starting spot, leading 48 of the 95 laps. His third pole came in The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid. Even his lone crash was noteworthy as the mishap in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at Iowa Speedway ended a streak of 35 consecutive races without an accident dating to 2022, but he bounced back to finish second in the next day’s race. Dixon won two races, pushing his career total to 58, nine shy of A.J. Foyt’s all-time record. Running low on fuel, Dixon held off a host of strong challengers in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to go to victory lane for the second time in the event. He also won the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear from the fifth position. He was third in the standings when he got knocked into the left-side wall in the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland, and he was sixth at year’s end. Linus Lundqvist won the pole for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, the first such achievement of his career, and he finished a career-best third in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. Marcus Armstrong scored his first career podium finish with a third-place finish in that Barber race. Armstrong finished the season with five top-10 finishes in the final eight races. Simpson’s rookie season was highlighted by a 13th-place finish in the second Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. As for the team’s “500” results, Dixon led the way with a third-place finish. Palou finished fifth, Simpson 21st, Lundqvist 28th and Armstrong 30th. Dixon led 12 laps to push his career event record to 677. He finished in the top three for the sixth time.
New for ’25: After fielding five full-season entries for the first time in its long history, CGR has dropped down to three to align with INDYCAR’s new charter system. Armstrong, who moved to Meyer Shank Racing to be paired with Felix Rosenqvist, is still connected through CGR’s technical alliance with MSR. The five drivers figure to be connected through engineering meetings at all 17 events this season. MSR worked with Andretti Global the past two years.
Keep an Eye on This: Palou remains a relatively low-key star in the motorsports world, but another season championship will vault him to very lofty standards in this series. Winning another Astor Challenge Cup would make him the first three-peat champion since Dario Franchitti (2009, 2010, 2011), and the two champions would share the designation of capturing four titles in a five-year span. Sebastien Bourdais is the only INDYCAR driver to have won four consecutive season championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007).
Little-Known Fact: Dixon is on pace to earn another all-time designation this season. The driver who has the most consecutive starts in series history (339 races) is scheduled to break Mario Andretti’s record of 407 career starts when he takes the green flag in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Late last year, Dixon passed Andretti as the all-time leader in top-three finishes with 142. Dixon also holds the sport’s mark for top-five finishes with 211 and needs only five more second-place finishes to tie Andretti in that category. Andretti’s record is 56.