Latest news with #ChipGanassi
Fox News
28-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
Chip Ganassi Relishes Alex Palou's Incredible Season: 'You're Seeing History Made'
MONTEREY, Calif. — Even Chip Ganassi, with his trademark line of "I Like Winners," couldn't have predicted such a dominating season like the one Alex Palou has put together in 2025. Fourteen races into the year, Palou has eight victories. In two other races, he has finished second. He has won five poles and led the most laps in five races this year. Oh, and one of those victories was the Indianapolis 500. "This guy is in a league of his own," Ganassi told me on Sunday after another win at Laguna Seca. "There are a lot of great drivers out there, and we've been fortunate to have a lot of them. "And this guy's right at the top." No driver has won more than 10 races in a year, and Palou still has a chance to break that record with races at Portland (road course), Milwaukee (1-mile oval) and Nashville (1.33-mile oval). Can he get to 11? "I don't know many people who would bet against that," Ganassi said. "Who knows?" What is not up for debate is the monumental season Palou has had, as he has all but clinched his fourth series title. He just needs to average a 16th-place finish over the final three races. Ganassi has had seasons where his drivers have won more than eight races. Dixon and Dario Franchitti combined for 10 wins in 2009. Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya each had seven-win seasons during the time of the split of INDYCAR into two competing series (which many would consider diluted the field). "We're really, really, really pleased and excited and happy to be watching and being a part of history," Ganassi said. When a driver wins eight times in one season, the driver will need to have some good fortune. But Palou seems to have taken advantage of every opportunity, every mistake by another front-running driver. "It's not like we're lucking into these things," Ganassi said. "He's dominating. Today [at Laguna Seca], it looked like the red tire, the soft tire, was the preferred tire and he was on the hard tire running away from the field. "The entire field was on the red softs, and he was running away from them on the hard tire." That was by design. When a driver has the fastest car and is in the zone like Palou, the team finds the strategy that plays to its strengths. Palou has not been shy about not wanting to change strategy. He doesn't want to go the conservative route, and he doesn't want to throw away points at races. A week prior to Laguna Seca, that bit him when he finished 12th using a strategy that didn't pan out at Toronto. He lost 30 points to second-place Pato O'Ward in the process. "We talk about it every week," Ganassi said. "We've got people still breathing down our neck, and we want to remember how we got here. And that was racing the way we know how to race: Go for the wins." After that race, Palou took the blame for advocating for that strategy. "Alex wants to try to claim the responsibility," said his strategist Barry Wanser. "Myself and the race engineer were like you can't claim all the responsibility for what went wrong. "Part of it's on us. But that's just the type of guy he is." The type of guy Palou is remains one who continues to learn and perform. In just his second INDYCAR season, he won the title with three victories in 2021. He won just once in 2022 before a five-win season on his way to the 2023 championship. His 2024 crown came in a year when he earned just two wins but no driver had more than three. Palou's 2025 season has included his first oval wins and not just at Indianapolis. He also won on the Iowa oval, which is just short of a mile in length. "He had a great, great race in Iowa a few weeks ago, his first short oval win," Ganassi said. "These are not easy things to do, especially for a kid coming out of Europe." What has allowed him to do it? Ganassi said the same thing that made him pretty much an instant success story in the series. "I go back to his first race with us years ago down there [Barber Motorsports Park] in Alabama, when that was the first race of the season," Ganassi said. "He came out and just did really good. He had [Will] Power and [Scott] Dixon breathing down his neck all day and it didn't seem to bother him. "The wind in his sails hasn't let up yet. This guy is on a roll. We haven't seen the best of him yet. You're seeing history made right now, and it's incredible to watch." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Pato O'Ward Wins Second INDYCAR Race in 2025 on the Streets of Toronto
Pato O'Ward took his second win of the season in the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race, just eight days after his first, and cut 30 points into Alex Palou's championship lead that now sits at 99 points. Pato O'Ward and Rinus VeeKey were among the few who dived into the pit lane when they saw Rossi hit the wall before the yellow came out. Letting them jump up the board as the majority of the field went to the pit when the pit lane opened. The CGR of Alex Palou and Scott Dixon stayed out. Palou, after leading more than half the race, ended up back in 12th due to a three-pit stop strategy that had him marooned in the mid-pack. 'Well, I chose the strategy, so that's what we did wrong today. I was pushing for that strategy. I wanted to be up front.' The Toronto podium included Rinus VeeKay, who hasn't been on a podium since 2022. VeeKay was leading O'Ward on the winning strategy before the final pit, in which O'Ward stayed out one lap for the over-cut, taking the third position from VeeKay behind the Andrettis of Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson, who both still needed to pit. VeeKay continued to stay within a three-second margin of O'Ward, and with just three laps to go, O'Ward's teammate Nolan Siegel and former teammate Felix Rosenqvist got tangled as the leaders were coming by. O'Ward avoided the late crash, and the caution that followed meant the race would end under yellow with O'Ward as the leader. Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi's third driver, had his first podium finish as his multi-championship-winning teammates struggled on strategy. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday
Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday originally appeared on The Spun. Prayers are pouring in after a "horrific" IndyCar crash on Sunday morning. The Indy NXT Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio took place on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, it featured one heck of a crash. Two drivers - Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto - were involved in the huge crash, which saw one of the drivers going airborne. Escotto's front left wheel made contact with Murray's back left wheel heading into a turn. It sent both of them into the barrier. Murray's car lifted into the air and went airborne, flipping. A ton of dirt and debris filled the air. It was a scary scene. had more: Both drivers stepped out of the car and seemed on initial look to be ok but Escotto was visibly shaken by the incident and could be seen perched on the grass by his stricken blue and black Indy NXT vehicle. The two drivers were involved in a fight just outside the top ten and were sat in 11th and 12th. Murray was drafting on Bryce Aron in his Chip Ganassi Car ahead moments before the crash happened. Prayers are pouring in for everyone involved. "Man, I'm glad they were okay. That looked BAD," one fan wrote. "Really scary," one fan added. "Crazy crash glad everyone is alright," one fan added. "That crash was brutal—so glad they walked away. Wild how quick things can go wrong in open-wheel racing. OwenTurnertrade's probably breaking down the safety tech that saved them," one fan added. "Have never personally seen a flip in Indy NXT until now. Glad Escotto and Murray walked away from this. Terrifying wreck," one fan added. "Watched this live on my TV, and my God fortunes changed in a split second," one fan added. "The ONE DAY I watch F1 instead of NXT we get a horrendous incident," one fan added. Our thoughts are with the two drivers as this will surely be a difficult crash to live with moving forward. Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday first appeared on The Spun on Jul 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday
Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday originally appeared on The Spun. Prayers are pouring in after a "horrific" IndyCar crash on Sunday morning. The Indy NXT Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio took place on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, it featured one heck of a crash. Two drivers - Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto - were involved in the huge crash, which saw one of the drivers going airborne. Advertisement Escotto's front left wheel made contact with Murray's back left wheel heading into a turn. It sent both of them into the barrier. Murray's car lifted into the air and went airborne, flipping. A ton of dirt and debris filled the air. It was a scary scene. Scary had more: Both drivers stepped out of the car and seemed on initial look to be ok but Escotto was visibly shaken by the incident and could be seen perched on the grass by his stricken blue and black Indy NXT vehicle. The two drivers were involved in a fight just outside the top ten and were sat in 11th and 12th. Murray was drafting on Bryce Aron in his Chip Ganassi Car ahead moments before the crash happened. Prayers are pouring in for everyone involved. "Man, I'm glad they were okay. That looked BAD," one fan wrote. "Really scary," one fan added. "Crazy crash glad everyone is alright," one fan added. "That crash was brutal—so glad they walked away. Wild how quick things can go wrong in open-wheel racing. OwenTurnertrade's probably breaking down the safety tech that saved them," one fan added. Advertisement "Have never personally seen a flip in Indy NXT until now. Glad Escotto and Murray walked away from this. Terrifying wreck," one fan added. "Watched this live on my TV, and my God fortunes changed in a split second," one fan added. "The ONE DAY I watch F1 instead of NXT we get a horrendous incident," one fan added. Our thoughts are with the two drivers as this will surely be a difficult crash to live with moving forward. Prayers Pouring In After 'Horrific' IndyCar Crash Sunday first appeared on The Spun on Jul 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
The Drive
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
How Indy 500 Winner Alex Palou and Honda Are Dominating IndyCar's Hybrid Era
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Sunday's 109th running of the Indy 500 saw Alex Palou win his fifth race of the season, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that the iconic Memorial Day weekend race was just the sixth race of the 2025 calendar. It was also the Spaniard's first-ever oval win, further emphasizing the dreamy season Chip Ganassi's new star is having so far. But amid all the Palou headlines, there's an element that's often less talked about: the Honda hybrid engine that made it possible. When the bright-yellow, DHL-sponsored Honda crossed the yard of bricks ahead of its competitors Sunday, it wasn't a coincidence. It was months, if not a full year of preparation by the No. 10 crew, but primarily, lots of practice during the month of May. Besides the usual challenges of running in a pack, drafting, turbulence, dealing with slower traffic, pit stops, and everything else that makes racing at 230 mph for nearly three hours a monumental challenge, there was a new layer to be concerned about this year. See, this year's sold-out race was the first time the entire 33-car grid, Chevy or Honda, ran a spec hybrid system. And like everything else in racing, teams and drivers alike have had to learn how to use it to their advantage. Travis Hinkle It took IndyCar a long time to fulfill its promise to go hybrid—nearly five years, actually. Developmental delays, followed by manufacturing and shipping delays, resulted in a series of postponements that left everyone wondering if it would ever arrive. And when the pandemic of 2020 brought global chaos and the world came to a standstill, many wondered if it would even happen at all. But alas, nearly halfway through the 2024 season, IndyCar went racing with all-new hybrid systems at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. While this may be the first hybrid 500, it doesn't mean teams went into the race completely blind. As Kelvin Fu, HRC US Vice President (and a real engineering wizard), explained to me the morning of the race, there's been lots of model simulation and racing simulator work to optimize the system's performance. While HRC US—Honda's racing branch in North America—provides plenty of support to its IndyCar teams, the ultimate application of the car's drivetrain and other systems completely depends on the team. Furthermore, with both Honda and Chevy engines running the same hybrid and energy storage systems, the biggest challenge for the drivers is learning how to tame them and maximize their benefits, which is something they haven't had much time to figure out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joe Skibinski, Matt Favrer 'In terms of preparation of the hybrid system, it all really works together as it's integrated into the engine and chassis, etc,' Fu explained. 'So it's more simulation and situational preparation ahead of the 500. It's a lot more trying to understand how the drivers can deploy the energy, as they're already doing many things with the tools on their steering wheels, so that's a challenge for them. Traditionally, drivers don't want to be the first guy [at the front of the pack], but that may change. Drivers have to figure out moving around the pack and multiple strategies… [the new system brings] something different, and it forces teams and drivers to handle change. 'It's going to be interesting [during the race], and we won't know until it runs. Our assumption is that as you're racing, the drivers who are better at harvesting and regenerating at the right time are going to slowly have an advantage as they go around. The ability to regen is going to be affected by where they are in the pack. If you are in the front, there's less lifting [off the throttle], but as you fall back there's [more lifting], and when you are lifting that's when you are regenerating,' added Fu. 'Those guys might be able to build more energy, so they'll have a better chance of passing. We'll see how it goes, a lot of things can affect how the cars run—the cooler weather, downforce, etc. We think the hybrid system will have an effect on how effectively they can pass—the drivers and teams who can figure out the system better will move through the field easier.' Overall race-pace speeds weren't dramatically affected by the higher power of the hybrid—a combined 900 hp—as the car is about 100 pounds heavier than before. The system itself is housed alongside the engine and is about the size of a milk crate, making the packaging under the engine cover a bigger challenge than in previous years. And contrary to popular belief, it hasn't made the engines more fuel efficient either. It's 100% about power and performance. Joe Skibinski, Chris Owens Fu's comments about the system favoring savvy drivers who do their homework resonated as the laps racked up during Sunday's race. Palou, who started sixth, was never quite in the mix at the front for most of the race. In fact, it wasn't until about lap 180 of 200 that he made his intentions extremely clear with a couple of aggressive passes on Chevy drivers Santino Ferrucci and Pato O'Ward. Prior to that, Palou was running steady within the top 10 or 12, managing his fuel strategy, making clean pit stops, and more importantly, avoiding chaos. Over the course of 480-plus miles, Palou (along with everyone else) managed their energy harvesting and power output to up the pace when necessary, and go for crucial passes when needed. And little by little, the Spaniard positioned himself just right at the end of the race. He methodically did what he had to do to be within striking distance when it mattered most. Honda would not comment on Palou's specific management of the hybrid system during the race, but it curiously highlighted that during qualifying, data revealed that many drivers' speeds during the fourth and final lap of Indy's four-lap-average qualifying format were often the fastest. It's usually the other way around as the tires begin to scrub, the engines begin to overheat from being turned to 11, and drivers begin to overthink and overcorrect. This year, however, drivers were harvesting during the first three and deploying that additional energy on the fourth lap. Surely, those same strategies were put into place on race day. Joe Skibinski Between 2004 and 2014, Chevy only managed to steal one Indy 500 win away from Honda. Since then, however, it's been just about an even split between IndyCar's two engine manufacturers. And after back-to-back Penske-Chevy wins at the hands of Josef Newgarden in 2023 and 2024 (one of those with a car of questionable legality), Honda's sweep of the 2025 season so far highlights its engineering prowess—even when it comes to non-proprietary systems. And almost equally as important as winning is the fact that the hybrid components worked exactly as expected, and there were no hybrid failures or issues during the race in Honda-powered cars. To place first, you first have to finish the race. When asked about any tweaks or further developments Honda would like to make to the hybrid system for next year, Fu highlighted that there have been some improvements since its debut, but so far, they're pretty happy where things are at. 'Honda makes the super capacitor, and Chevy Ilmore makes the MGU, but it's really IndyCar's system,' said Fu. 'It's a combined effort between manufacturers that's been good so far. We'll propose improvements and other things, but there's always a trade-off to making changes… as those things require costs, time, things need to be tested and validated, etc. Of course, Honda is always looking to make improvements, and this year we've already been able to increase the energy allowance. 'Overall, it's a good system right now, and we don't want to change it too much in the near future.' Chris Owens CHRIS OWENS Got a tip? Email us at tips@
