Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) has confirmed its IndyAutomotive Series and Indy NXT lineups for the 2025 season.
After it was announced that the team can be reducing its members from five to a few next season, questions remained as to who would remain within the organization. Answers: six-time IndyAutomotive champion Scott Dixon, current champion Alex Palou and future sophomore Kyffin Simpson.
Dixon and Palou will remain of their Honda-powered No. 9 and No. 10 cars. However, 20-year-old Simpson will move from the No. 4 automobile, which he drove during his debut campaign, to the No. 8 automobile, previously occupied by 2024 Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist (not it has yet been confirmed that there will likely be one other season). Marcus Armstrong, who also raced with CGR last season, was previously announced at Meyer Shank Racing, with whom CGR may have a technical alliance starting in 2025.
CGR's newly established Indy NXT program – the team's first program since 2007 – features two cars: Irishman Jonathan Browne in No. 9 and Dutch driver Niels Koolen in No. 10.
“By all measures, 2024 was another outstanding 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 approach 2025, we want to defend the championship with a strong driver lineup and 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: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
Dixon, a 44-year-old New Zealander who’s nine wins shy of equaling legend AJ Foyt's all-time record of 67, shared his motivation to get back heading in the right direction sooner moderately than later.
“I'm excited,” said Dixon, who won two races en path to sixth place within the 2024 championship. “I'm able to go. I wish there was such an extended off-season. We had plenty of great races last yr. It didn't end the way in which we might have liked, with a number of DNFs and a number of poor results here and there, however the team did an awesome job with great speed. I'm looking forward to the season and naturally I'm aiming for a seventh championship.”
The 27-year-old Spaniard Palou is bidding to turn out to be the primary three-peat winner since Dario Franchitti's successful 2009-11 season. “2024 was another amazing season in the books,” Palou said. “The work doesn't stop and I can't wait to get back on track in 2025 with more hunger than ever!”
Simpson, a Caymanian born in Barbados who had a best finish of twelfth (St. Petersburg) and likewise led multiple laps in last yr's Indy 500, said: “I am very excited to continue working with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2025. I'm looking forward to building on the strong start to my IndyCar career and can't wait to see what our team can achieve together.”
Kyffin Simpson and Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Photo: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images
For Browne, who posted a best finish of sixth place (St. Petersburg) in his debut Indy NXT campaign last season, he described joining CGR as a “dream come true.”
Meanwhile, Koolen, who competed in eight of the 14 Indy NXT rounds in 2024 and posted a best finish of tenth (Indianapolis, Race 1), is looking forward to his first full-time campaign in IndyAutomotive's top development category.
“I am excited to spend my second year and first full season in Indy NXT,” said Koolen. “I’m looking forward to working with Chip Ganassi Racing, who has an awesome pedigree and vast experience in many various categories.
