Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, the current and four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, called the news of teammate Scott Dixon’s decision to leave their team at season’s end “sad.”
But he took it in stride, saying, “At the same time, it’s OK. It’s just part of life. It’s part of the sport.”
Palou wasn’t speaking cavalierly. He paid great respect to Dixon, who’s even more decorated in his 24-plus season with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) as a six-time champion and 58-time winner with 143 podium finishes and 32 pole positions. And he said he’s like to make the most of the remaining time he has with Dixon as his teammate.
“I wish him the best, honestly. I’m going to try and keep on learning as much as I can throughout the races that we still have,” Palou said. “But nothing I can do, right? I think it’s been incredible to be his teammate, and I’m sure the next drivers that will be sharing teams with him, they’re going to be very lucky.
“It’s sad because of what he has done for the team, for everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing. I’ve not been since the beginning, but I know I would not be here today without him and also with the results I had. It’s big-time due to him,” Palou said. “When I had the opportunity to be teammates with Scott, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. First you have no pressure because you’re going against the best. You can learn as much as you can.
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Alex Palou (left) and Scott Dixon at Elkhart Lake in 2021.
“A teammate that is my teammate can see everything that I do and can learn as much as he wants from me, can drive the same car that I drive. I think it’s actually an opportunity that a lot of people want. They always want to compare themselves or drive the same car than the person that is winning,” he said.
Presumably, Palou will take on the mantle of team leader when Ganassi hires Dixon’s replacement. But the points leader said he’s not thinking that way.
“I know I would not probably have any championship or more than one championship without him in the team.”
“I’m going to say yes and no. As I mentioned, Scott has done an incredible job for the team, but at the same time, the way that this team operates, it’s very open. Every single driver has the same amount of saying, let’s say,” Palou said. “It’s not really going to change anything. I’ve been working with Kyffin [Simpson] for a long time, with [Marcus] Armstrong, as well, with Felix [Rosenqvist] now. There’s been no time that one driver had more saying or more importance than any other, and I think it’s going to be the same for the future.”
CGR has a technical alliance with Meyer Shank Racing, home of Armstrong and Rosenqvist.
Palou expressed no preference for a new teammate.
“Honestly, I do not care, and I have zero saying about it,” he said. “People think that we get more saying than what we actually do. But I would not want to have any saying on that.
“But as a driver, you always want the fastest driver in the same machinery as you. You want to see what the best drivers can do. You want to learn from them. You think that you can beat them when they are with an equal machinery to you. I think whatever Chip and the team decide will be the best decision.
“I think a lot of people, when they chose to put me on the 10 car, thought that that was not a very smart move,” Palou said. “And hopefully we have someone that, again, the team gives him the chance to win and to be up front every single weekend.”
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Palou and Dixon both have their images on the Borg Warner.
In all, he said, his association with Dixon has made a “huge” impact on his development.
“From being able to see how a six-time champion works, at the shop, at the track, how he communicates with the team, how he brakes, how he– it’s everything, every single piece. He’s been an incredible teammate. In the way of sharing, I think it could go both ways. I think it could be suddenly a big wall in between and not sharing anything, but he’s been the complete opposite,” Palou said.
“I know I would not probably have any championship or more than one championship without him in the team, so it’s incredible,” he said. “It’s incredible the work that he has done over 25 years for everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing with his teammates and different teammates he has had and everything that he has built.”
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.