INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 14, 2024) Entering the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season there was plenty of talk in the paddock and media center about how much would expanding to five full-time entries affect Chip Ganassi Racing.

“We’ve run multiple cars out of our race shop,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “The fact that instead of three going here and two going here, all five are going one place, it’s somewhat easier from a logistics point of view. I challenge anybody to say that it’s taking anything away from anybody by going from four to five. It’s just not the case.”

Heading into practice for the Indianapolis 500 CGR is proving the doubters wrong because it doesn’t look like the 15-time series Champions have missed a beat.

This past weekend CGR opened the Month of May by winning the pole position and placing three cars in the Top 5 at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Two-time and reigning series Champion Alex Palou grabbed the win in the No. 10 DHL Honda.  Six-time series Champion Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda finished fourth and second-year driver Marcus Armstrong finished fifth in the No. 11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda.

Team owner Chip Ganassi, as usual, gave credit to his organization.

“Unquestionably it’s about the team,” said Ganassi after the race.  “I’ve got some great drivers, great guys on the engineering stand, great guys in management.  I’m a lucky guy.”

In addition to Armstrong’s Top 5 in the Sonsio Grand Prix, the ‘young guns’ in the CGR stable are showing signs of improvement in the ultra-competitive series.

Armstrong was the only CGR car to make the Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying at the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park last month, where teammate Linus Lundqvist’s third place finish in the No. 8 American Legion ‘Be The One’ Honda was his first-career podium.

“I think he’s been working very hard and he’s been knocking on that door a lot,” said Palou of Armstrong. “Still hasn’t had the perfect weekend where everything fits for him, but he’s been really fast. Barber he went into the Fast Six, was the only car of the team in the Fast Six, and it’s great that he got his first top 5.”

Rookie Kyffin Simpson, who moved up to INDYCAR after running INDY NXT last season, may be the most surprising of all of the young drivers on the CGR team.  Simpson finished 12th after starting 23rd in the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.  Simpson finished 19th after starting 26th at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.  At the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix Simpson finished 14th after starting in the 23rd spot and in the last race Simpson finished 15th after starting 25th.  That’s 37-positions gained over the course of the four points-paying races.

Palou also won the non-points paying race at The Thermal Club and Dixon stood on the top step of the podium at Long Beach, so the Champions on the team are winning while the young drivers are taking notes.

“I think everyone can see we have two really solid, solid veterans that can win at any racetrack we go to,” said Ganassi.  “So it’s nice to have this group of younger guys coming up that have the opportunity to work with Alex and Scott, learn from them. So it’s a great opportunity.”

CGR has a great opportunity to carry the early season momentum through the month of May into ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’.

“We know we have a fast car,” said Palou, who sits atop the Championship standing, 12-points ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power. “Obviously we got the pole here last year. But the competition is tight. They never give you anything. The focus now is on qualifying, trying to get the pole. But we want to win the Indy 500.”

“Momentum is real in any sport,” said Ganassi.  “Momentum is your friend.  We know we have a big month of May.”

There will be two practice sessions on Tuesday May 14 followed by 6-hour sessions Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Saturday’s schedule has a 1-hour session in the morning before Day 1 Qualifications start at 11 a.m.  Sunday’s schedule also features a practice, Top 12 Qualifying, Last Chance Qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six run for the Pole Position. INDY 500 Track Schedule

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 11, 2024) Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou is heading into the Indianapolis 500 with momentum after winning Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Palou survived a late race restart and held off Team Penske’s Will Power, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard and CGR teammate Scott Dixon to pick up his first win of 2024, his 2nd straight Sonsio Grand Prix and 10th of his career.

“It was an amazing win,” said Palou. “It’s great to be back-to-back from last year and continue this May.”

Power brought the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet home in second-place, his third runner-up finish of 2024, 7th second-place finish in the Grand Prix.

“You get sick and tired of finishing second,” joked Power. “You’re just racing very tough people and if you’re not exactly perfect you won’t win.  I wasn’t exactly perfect in qualifying and I didn’t win.  All I know is if you keep knocking on the door, the wins will come.”

Lundgaard brought the RLL No. 45 HyVee Honda home in third despite leading a large portion of the race.

Dixon brought the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda home in fourth followed by teammate Marcus Armstrong in the No. 11 Indiana University Honda, giving team owner Chip Ganassi three cars in the Top 5.

“These are all teams wins,” said Ganassi.  “There’s a lot going on pit strategy wise, tire wise.  Obviously three guys in the Top 5, it’s a really, really big win heading into the Month of May.”

Palou started on the pole position using the quicker, faster-wearing red sidewall alternate Firestone tires with second-place starter Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard opting for the longer lasting black sidewall Firestone primary tires.

Palou locked up his rear tires going into turn one and overshot the corner a bit, which allowed Lundgaard to make the move to the inside and into the lead.

“I made a little mistake on the start and lost our first position there that we fought so hard for in qualifying,” explained Palou.

Lundgaard led through the first round of pit stops. Will Power pitted before Lundgaard and Palou and was able to pass Palou in Turn 7 while Palou’s tires were coming up to speed.

Lundgaard retook the lead on lap 24 followed by Power, Palou, Dixon, Newgarden and Marcus Armstrong.

Palou stayed out an extra lap through the second round of pit stop and quick work by the No. 10 crew allowed Palou to take the lead on the faster red sidewall Firestones.

“Everybody on all the crew, the engineers and the mechanics did an amazing job in the pits, gave me that lead and we just had to try and get the performance we had all weekend out of the No. 10 DHL Honda car,” said Palou.

“I think if we’d gone longer on that stint it would’ve kept Palou behind us,” explained Power.  “He wouldn’t have been able to use his speed.  We thought that was the best option at the time.  I thought the undercut would be good.”

Palou led the top four into the pits for the final stop of the day and led them off in first with Power leapfrogging Lundgaard on pit road.

Palou maintained the lead on the subsequent restart despite sliding on the entrance into Turn 1, which stifled Power’s attempt to get around the leader.  The No. 10 Honda methodically built a gap over the final laps, finishing 6.6106-seconds ahead of the No. 12 Chevy.

Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is time trials and qualifying for the Indy 500 next Saturday and Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong is quick in Saturday’s morning NTT INDYCAR SERIES warm-up for the Sonsio Gran Prix as Santino Ferrucci and Romain Grosjean make contact plus Jacob Able scores his second INDY NXT victory and VRD Racing sweeps Friday’s support races and more in the INDY GP Racing Notebook.

Marcus Armstrong Leads Morning Warmup

• Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong led the NTT INDYCAR SERIES morning warmup for the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.  Armstrong’s fast lap of 1-minute, 9.8485-seconds in the No. 11 Honda was almost 4-tenths of a second quicker than Andretti Global’s Colton Herta (1:10.2314).  Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus Veejay was third (1:10.3889) followed by pole-sitter and defending race-winner Alex Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (1:10.4222).  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal was fifth (1:10.4573).  Chip Ganassi had three cars in the Top 6 with Scott Dixon right behind Rahal with a fast lap of 1:10.5407 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.

Ferrucci And Grosjean Spar In Warmup

• AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean made contact during the morning warmup for Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Sonsio Gran Prix.  Ferrucci’s No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevy was inside Grosjean’s JHR Chevy in Turn 10 and Grosjean turned right into Ferrucci’s car.  Ferrucci pushed Grosjean back to the left side and gave him a hand gesture as the pair came down the South short chute heading into Turn 12.  Ferrucci told NBS Sports afterwards, “If he doesn’t like it, come over here and talk to me about it.”

Abel Makes It 2-In-A-Row In INDYNXT

• Jacob Able is a two-time winner in INDY NXT competition.  Able held off Nolan Siegel in a three-lap shootout Friday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. “This is awesome,” said Abel, who led 35 laps in this race. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to celebrate for too long here. We’re getting another chance tomorrow. That was a really great race, though.”  Siegel, of HMD Motorsports finished second .5470-seconds behind.  Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick finished third, the best finish for a female driver in INDY NXT since Pippa Mann’s win in 2010 at Kentucky. INDY NXT Race 1 Results

Nikita Armstrong Wins USFPro200 Race

• 15-year-old Nikita Johnson is 4-for-4 in USFPro2000 competition in 2024.  Johnson helped his VRD Racing Team win the day as Max Taylor won the USF2000 race. Rookie Liam Sceats finished a distant second for TJ Speed Motorsports, his best finish of the season. Lochie Hughes finished third for Turn 3 Motorsport.    indygp-usf-pro-2000-race-1

Taylor Scores USF2000 Win

• Max Taylor is a winner in USF2000 after taking the first race of a doubleheader on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Taylor took the lead in Turn 1 after a restart following an early full-course caution flag. “My plan was to get into the lead as fast as I could and I did just that. I got to the lead and had a little battle with Evan and just checked out and put some good laps in. The VRD car just drove itself really,” said Taylor. Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza finished second ahead of teammate Evan Cooley who made an impressive USF2000 debut by qualifying on pole position. indygp-usf2000-race-1

Maeta To Perform National Anthem at Sonsio GP

• Maeta, an Indianapolis native who recently peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart, will perform the national anthem before the start of the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 11 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Having an Indianapolis native, whose career is just taking off, ensures this performance will be memorable for all involved. Maeta’s rendition is sure to set the stage for an epic race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course,” said J. Douglas Boles, President of IMS.

Sonsio Extends Partnership With IMS

• Sonsio Vehicle Protection is renewing its partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sonsio Vehicle Protection, an industry-leading provider of vehicle protection and warranty programs, will continue as an Official Partner of IMS and the title sponsor of the Sonsio Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES road course race. Sonsio Vehicle Protection serves more than 82,000 dealerships, F&I service providers, manufacturers, insurance companies, parts suppliers, retail chains and many independent retailers across all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.