Despite scaling back from five to three cars for 2025, Chip Ganassi Racing remains the top favorite for the IndyCar championship this year. Scott Dixon and Alex Palou together account for nine IndyCar titles, while Kyffin Simpson, after his rookie season, now faces the challenge of delivering strong results.

Scott Dixon

With six IndyCar championships and 24 seasons of experience under his belt, Scott Dixon is the veteran leader of the team. Thanks to wins in Long Beach and Detroit, Dixon was on course for a potential seventh title last year, until a string of bad luck struck during the second half of the season. As a result, the now 44-year-old driver fell back to sixth in the standings, leaving him hungry for redemption in 2025.

“I think it’s all about execution and preparation,” Dixon said. “Last year, I think we prepared quite well. Execution, on many levels, wasn’t so great. The great thing about this series – and also the toughest part – is how competitive it is. It’s brutal. If you miss just a little bit or give up a couple of races, you’re really out of contention.”

“You’ve got to finish all the races. You’ve got to be quick. You’ve got to be quick across all disciplines. It’s really tight right now, really tight, which is great for everyone watching. We definitely have some big areas to improve and some low-hanging fruit where we can make significant changes for a positive impact. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Alex Palou

Alex Palou has emerged as the driver to beat, winning three titles in the last four years. On his way to securing his third championship, Palou only claimed two victories, but his consistent performances earned him valuable points. Even on bad days, Palou and his crew managed to finish in the top five, either through raw speed or smart pit stop strategies. The fact that he finished outside the top five only four times sealed his 2024 championship – a feat he hopes to replicate this year.

“I’m in the same position,” Palou said. “I just want to get on track and try to improve on what we did last year. It’s going to take a lot of effort. The competition is incredibly tough. You’re not fighting against just one team; you’re fighting multiple teams. We saw last year how fast and strong Andretti was on track. Penske, too. And yeah, it’s going to be fun.”

“We still have a lot of work to do, especially to improve on short ovals – both on my side as a driver and as a team – to find more speed. The competition is going to be fierce. We won last year’s championship with only two wins, which shows how competitive the series is. The goal is to repeat that, improve on it, and hopefully win the 500.”

Kyffin Simpson

For Kyffin Simpson, the goals for 2025 are very different from those of his more experienced teammates. The 20-year-old driver had a challenging rookie season, with a 12th-place finish as his best result. In his second year, he needs to secure at least a few top-10 finishes to ensure a longer future with Ganassi.

“I’m very happy with my first year,” Simpson reflected. “I was pretty satisfied with how I performed in the races. I think some of our results didn’t fully reflect our performance for one reason or another. But I felt like we did pretty well, and I think if we can be more consistent this year and avoid unnecessary incidents, that would be ideal. I think we had a few too many crashes last year, whether it was my mistake or an issue with someone else.”

“Heading into year two, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable. If we can clean all of that up this year, I think we’ll be in a good place.”