IndyCar
Scott Dixon Wins 6th INDYCAR Championship & Chip Ganassi Racing Wins Their 13th
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon wasn’t even born when INDYCAR legend A.J. Foyt won his sixth Championship in 1975, but Sunday Dixon joined Foyt as the only other 6-time INDYCAR Champion.
Dixon finished third in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, winning the title by 16-points over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
“Well, six is good,” said Dixon. “Seven is better. That’s going to be the goal.”
Dixon started the race in 11th position and had to finish eighth or ninth depending on where Newgarden finished. Newgarden didn’t make it easy, winning the race for the second year in-a-row.
“Credit to Josef (Newgarden) and Team Penske,” said Dixon. “He drove a hell of a race there and put us under a lot of pressure. They drove the last part of the season flawlessly and gained a lot of points.”
The No. 9 team started the 2020 season with three-straight wins and built up a lead of 117-points but saw it dwindle to 32-points following races at Mid-Ohio in September and the Harvest Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month.
Dixon and his “Wolfpack” crew however managed to lead the Championship throughout the entire season.
“It’s all the team,” credited Dixon. “I can’t thank everybody on this team enough. Obviously, Chip (Ganassi), Mike (Hull) and Barry (Wanser) and everybody involved.”
A big part of Dixon’s team is wife Emma, daughters Poppy and Tilly and son Kit.
“Big thanks to my wife Emma and my family,” said Dixon.  “I’m glad my girls are here, unfortunately (toddler son) Kit isn’t here.
Scott Dixon celebrates with his wife Emma and Daughters Poppy and Tilly after winning his sixth NTT IndyCar Series Championship.
It’s a big shame that he couldn’t be here. I can’t thank them enough. We’ll have to win another one so he can be in the pictures.”
The Championship is the 13th for Chip Ganassi and his team, which is celebrating their 30th Anniversary in 2020.
“It’s never just one thing or one person. For me, it’s about the team effort. We had a lot of changes in the offseason but huge thanks again to everyone on the team.”
The Championship is also Dixon’s second in three-years for Pittsburgh-headquartered PNC Bank.
“PNC Bank, two out of three years (as champion) – that’s pretty good going,” said Dixon. “I can’t thank all of our partners enough: PNC Bank, Honda, NTT Data, Huski Chocolate.”
Honda took home the Manufacturers Championship for the third year in-a-row.
“I’m proud to be powered by Honda and what they’ve been able to pull out this year given the deficit we’ve had going into Indy previous years,” said Dixon. “They nailed it. Big thanks to everybody.”
“Human beings are the thing that make the world go around and Scott is a very special human being,” said Ted Klaus, President of Honda Performance Development (HPD). “We call them the ‘driver’ for a reason, because they drive the whole team. Scott drives everything about, not just Chip Ganassi Racing, but HPD and he drives us. And we need those kinds of strong drivers to get the achievements that we seek. I don’t think he’s done. I think he’s still hungry and I think it humbles all of us. Good for Scott!”
LONG BEACH, CA (April 18, 2026) Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood is picking up right where he left off at Long Beach. Â The 2025 winner of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was quickest in the second NTT IndyCar Series practice session at the iconic street circuit.
Kirkwood’s fast lap of 1-minute, 7.5417-seconds was 0.2333-seconds quicker than Team Penske’s David Malukas.
Saturday’s practice session was sort of similar to Friday’s session as Andretti Global and Team Penske were 1-2 on the timing chart, except Friday’s session was led by Will Power, who beat out Scott McLaughlin for the top spot.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was fourth quickest on both days in the No. 10 OpenAI Honda.
Knockout style qualifying takes place at 6:30 p.m. ET with the Firestone Fast Six shifting to single car attempts.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Chip Ganassi Racing’s 2026 Trading Cards are coming out soon, and race fans can support a great cause by picking up a pack.
CGR’s 2025 trading card program raised over $20,000 for charities across the country, and proceeds from the 2026 program will benefit education nonprofit DonorsChoose, a PNC Grow Up Great® partner supporting public school and Head Start classrooms.
PNC Grow Up Great is a $500 million, bilingual early childhood education initiative that has been helping to prepare children from birth through age 5 for success in school and in life since 2004.
PNC and DonorsChoose—an education nonprofit that allows individuals to donate directly to classroom projects—have collaborated since 2017 to help teachers obtain quality resources and experiences for students in public pre-K, public charter, and Head Start classrooms. The $20 million alliance has included flash funds, match offers, DonorsChoose gift codes, and jumpstart donations to support early childhood learning.
Cards are available for pre-order now at chipganassiracing.com/cgrcards. Fans may receive autographed cards from Scott Dixon, six-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion and driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda; defending IndyCar Champion and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Honda; and rising star Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Since 2018, Dixon has visited high-quality education centers across the country, engaging in reading and other early learning activities with thousands of preschoolers—helping to expand PNC Grow Up Great and inspire the next generation of IndyCar fans.
BIRMINGHAM, AL (March 29, 2026) — Alex Palou returned to victory lane Sunday, winning the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
Driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou started from pole, led 79 laps, and beat Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard by 13.2775 seconds.
The win was Palou’s second of the 2026 season and his third career victory at the picturesque 2.33-mile, 17-turn road course. It also marked a second consecutive win at Barber for Chip Ganassi Racing. The track was built by the late George Barber, who passed away in February at the age of 85.
“What an amazing car,” said Palou. “Another win here. Love this place, love the fans. What a great day. Today in the race, it was pretty good in the beginning, really good at the end, but we suffered a little bit on the used blacks (Firestone Firehawk primary tires) that we had to use.”
Lundgaard appeared poised to challenge Palou in the closing stages as pit cycles and traffic shuffled the field. Palou made his final stop first but rejoined in traffic among cars fighting to stay on the lead lap.
“Those moments you can lose the race in like nothing,” said Palou. “You can lose five, six seconds with two laps because you’re fighting with cold tires and lap cars.”
“It was coming down to I think like we were three seconds ahead of him when we pitted,” said Julian Robertson, lead engineer on the No. 10 Honda. “We had some pretty decent, once we got through the traffic, started running some decent laps. It was going to be really close.”
Lundgaard pushed to close the gap but saw his chances slip away during a slow final pit stop—more than 17 seconds—due to a right-rear issue.
“I think we had something for him (Palou),” said Lundgaard. “I don’t really know what happened (on pit road). It’s unfortunate because I was told that we would have passed him if we would have had a clean stop. At that point I really just wanted to get back past Graham (Rahal) to get back what we lost because Alex was gone.”
“He (Lundgaard) had two sets (alternate Firestone’s) because he didn’t advance to Fast Six,” explained Palou. “He had two sets of brand-new stickers. When we were on used primaries, which were not very good, he was on brand-new alternates. That’s why he was getting so close.”
Graham Rahal finished third—his best result of 2026—but could not hold off Lundgaard late. Team Penske’s David Malukas came home fourth, just 0.07 seconds behind Rahal after starting on the front row.
“It’s a good reward for the guys and gals,” said Rahal, who earned his first podium finish since August 2023 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. “Everybody has worked so hard to get back here and heard all the noise and b.s. that we get to hear all the time. All weekend the car was in very good shape and very, very competitive and very comfortable.”
Kyle Kirkwood finished fifth in the No. 27 JM Bullion Honda for Andretti Global and now holds a two-point lead over Palou in the championship standings heading into the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Strategy played a major role throughout the race. Palou started on the black sidewall Firestone Firehawk primary tires—harder and more durable but slower—while Malukas opted for the faster, quicker-wearing red sidewall alternates.
A difficult warmup session led Ganassi to adjust its approach and commit to the primary tire strategy.
“This morning with the warm-up, like, tanked,” said Robertson. “We kind of switched strategy somewhat, which meant in the middle of the race we had to put a set of used blacks on. Got pretty sketchy”.
The strategy ultimately paid off, as Palou secured the 21st win of his career and moved firmly back into the championship fight as he pursues a fourth consecutive title and a second Indianapolis 500 victory in May.
The IndyCar Series is off the next two weekends before returning for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19.
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Alex Palou wins the pole position for Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park
Ganassi 2026 Trading Cards to support PNC’s Grow Up Great partner DonorsChoose
Who can challenge Alex Palou at Barber Motorsports Park
Alex Palou and DHL Chip Ganassi Racing repeat at Barber Motorsports Park
