IndyCar: 3 changes that should scare Alex Palou’s rivals in 2025

As a die-hard IndyCar enthusiast with years of experience following the series, I’m more than excited about the 2025 season and the prospects for Alex Palou. The technical alliance between Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing is a game-changer, especially considering Felix Rosenqvist’s impressive performances in recent years.

Year after year, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou has shown consistency that positions him as a strong contender for the IndyCar championship. In fact, on three out of four occasions since taking over as driver of the No. 10 Honda, he has earned the privilege to lift the Astor Cup.

In the series, Palou held the lead with five victories when he claimed his 2023 title, and his three wins in 2021 were equal to the most. However, if all eight of those wins had been downgraded to second place finishes, and the original second-place finishers had become winners in each of those eight races, Palou would have still emerged victorious in both championships.

In 2024, although Palou didn’t top the series with the most wins (he had just two), he would have found himself in a similar position if the season had continued.

Achieving consistent victory against Palou throughout a whole 17-race series is no small feat, and while several competitors have the potential to accomplish this, it may remain a challenging endeavor in 2025.

2024 saw Chip Ganassi Racing expand to field five cars, sparking speculation among the gaming community if this expansion could potentially strain our team’s resources, making it harder for us to maximize our success as we did in 2021 and 2023 when Alex Palou brought home the titles.

Despite a decrease in wins from five to two, and Chip Ganassi Racing winning fewer overall races compared to Team Penske, Palou believes this reduction didn’t make a difference.

Palou clarified to Beyond the Flag, “No, it wasn’t simple. However, maintaining the same car count requires overcoming various challenges. For instance, if you lose a key team member, you might need to replace them with three individuals to compensate for their role.

Adding another car last year didn’t simplify matters for us initially, but once our team managed to gather all the personnel, mechanics, components, and infrastructure needed around that additional vehicle, it turned out to be advantageous at times. It provided us with more data, allowed us to experiment with different configurations in the cars, and overall made the experience enjoyable.

I’m really thrilled that we and the team have finally earned the reward following all the tough efforts such as hiring additional personnel, training them, readying a new vehicle, having more pilots on board, and driving more haulers. The addition of a fifth car brings about a significant change, so it’s wonderful to see that our hard work has culminated in a championship for us!

But in 2025, Chip Ganassi Racing plan to go back to running just three cars.

As a racing enthusiast, I’m thrilled to share that I’ll once again find myself in the driver’s seat of the No. 10 Honda next time we hit the track. Meanwhile, Scott Dixon is gearing up for his return in the No. 9 Honda. Intriguingly, Kyffin Simpson seems to be shifting from the retired No. 4 Honda over to the No. 8 Honda. This leaves Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong scrambling for fresh opportunities as they find themselves on the sidelines in search of new rides.

Although increasing the number of cars from three to five didn’t necessarily have a detrimental effect on Team Palou and Ganassi, as demonstrated by their third Palou championship and fourth Ganassi title in the last five years (Dixon, 2020), could reducing the fleet back to three cars be beneficial, similar to Andretti Global? Their driver Colton Herta achieved the team’s best championship finish (second place) since Ryan Hunter-Reay won his 2012 title when they operated with just three cars.

To be honest, I’m unsure about it. I can only hope it turns out positively, but I cannot confirm that. We aim for superior equipment and parts, but predicting the outcome is challenging.

As a dedicated fan, I believe this vast organization has the resources and capabilities to effortlessly manage seven vehicles simultaneously. Reducing the number from five to three might seem like a minor adjustment, but it won’t be a magic solution that drastically improves performance. In fact, given their readiness to handle more than five cars, I don’t expect this change to make much of a difference at all.

But that’s not the only thing that could play to Palou’s advantage during the 2025 IndyCar season.

Despite shedding two vehicles, Chip Ganassi Racing’s technical partnership with the revitalized Meyer Shank Racing team implies that a total of five cars linked to Ganassi will still be present at every race event.

Team favorite Felix Rosenqvist, who had an unexpected move to Arrow McLaren following 2020, and whose departure paved the way for Palou’s signing, is slated to get back in the driver’s seat of the No. 60 Honda. Meanwhile, Armstrong will join him in the No. 66 Honda, filling the vacancy left by David Malukas who is bound for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

In other words, when we say “resurgent,” we really mean it. Compared to their position in 2023, the team significantly improved their qualifying performance by approximately 10 spots on average, across both cars.

As a dedicated fan, I’d rephrase it like this: Among the series competitors, Malukas and Rosenqvist had the seventh and eighth highest average starting positions, respectively, with impressive numbers of 8.7 and 9.4. Interestingly, both were significantly ahead of every Ganassi driver except Palou, who stood at 8.4. Armstrong trailed slightly behind at 11.1, while Dixon was just a bit further back at 11.4.

Though many see technical alliances as a way for small teams to get better, they work both ways.

Observe the remarkable advancements made by Andretti Global, particularly this year, after reducing their car count and forming an alliance with Meyer Shank Racing. Notice also how the partnership between Foyt and Penske positively impacted Penske at the Indy 500 and Foyt’s performance elsewhere, culminating in Santino Ferrucci securing Foyt’s best championship finish since 2002.

And then there’s the schedule.

I’ve repeatedly spoken out against the illogical perspective that Palou lacks strength on oval tracks, multiple times over.

If he hadn’t experienced a disastrous pit stop and an unexpected crash at Iowa Speedway during his attempt to regain lost ground, it’s likely that he would have secured consecutive podium finishes on the series’ shortest and most challenging track, potentially placing him higher in the oval standings. However, due to a battery issue with car No. 10 before the second race at Milwaukee Mile, we could be discussing a second-place finish – even surpassing two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden – instead of seventh place.

It’s quite probable that the shift in Milwaukee’s race ratio from 2:1 to 1:1, with a points race taking place at Thermal Club where Palou excelled in the 2024 exhibition race, will work to his advantage.

In his heat race, Palou emerged victorious and pulled far ahead of the other competitors during the main event. If this event were a points race in 2024, he would have secured the championship before the season finale for the second consecutive year. Notably, this feat hasn’t been achieved since 2007 (or 2005 if we exclude Champ Car).

On any random weekend, unexpected events may occur; last year’s triumph doesn’t automatically lead to the next one. However, when it comes to sheer potential, Palou and Thermal are a perfect match.

As a gaming enthusiast, I’m pumped up about the fact that come March 2, 2025, the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida will kick off the IndyCar season with the Firestone Grand Prix! Fox has got us covered with live broadcast for all seventeen races throughout the season.

2024-09-22 17:32

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