Chip Ganassi is no stranger to success in the NTT IndyCar Series. His teams have 16 series championships over the past 35 years and he now has six wins at the Indianapolis 500 thanks to Alex Palou’s achievement on Sunday.
The legendary team owner knows that there is something special in Palou, potentially even matching his other veteran driver Scott Dixon.
Ganassi talked after victory lane celebrations to describe how Palou matches up to some of the greatest names in IndyCar despite only being 28 years old.
“I think he’s one of the greats. It’s that simple,” said Ganassi. “Certainly we’ve had some great drivers on our team, and he’s right there. At worst, shoulder to shoulder with all the rest of them.
“You’ve got to talk about [Dario] Franchitti and [Juan Pablo] Montoya and [Scott] Dixon and all the champions we’ve had, [Jimmy] Vasser and [Alex] Zanardi, and it just adds to it.
“[Marcus] Ericsson won here with us. It’s just a great thing. He’s clearly in that group now. Clearly.
“Like he said last week, if he was to go through his whole career and not win here at Indianapolis, it wouldn’t be a complete career.
“I don’t want to say his career is complete now; he’s got a lot in him yet. He’s just an incredible driver. What can you say? Look at the last five, six races we’ve had. It’s just incredible. He’s on a roll.”
Palou comes into 2025 having won three of the past four championships, and he is already 115 points clear of everyone else after just six events this season.
All signs point to him earning a fourth championship and further solidifying his place in the history books.
Discussion about this post