Scott Dixon will eventually retire a Chip Ganassi Racing driver. But for the Kiwi, there’s no timetable on when that will be. He just completed his 17th top four points finish in the last 18 years. There’s no signs of slowing down. That’s a good thing.

Now though, the uncertainty and haze over the Ganassi future lineup has since been solidified. Earlier this season, one could wonder who will be in the 8 ride as Marcus Ericsson wasn’t happy. He wanted to be a pay driver and not one bringing funding. Also, all signs were pointing to Alex Palou leaving to join Arrow McLaren Racing. With the fourth seat being a shared one between Marcus Armstrong and Takuma Sato, only Dixon was a part of their future.

Now, that’s all been left in the dust.

While Ericsson left for Andretti Autosport, Ganassi has signed last year’s Indy NXT champion, Linus Lundqvist, as his replacement. On Thursday, Ganassi confirmed that they have signed Armstrong to come back to the No. 11 Dallara-Honda seat but this time, he’ll run all the races.

Armstrong, 23, currently leads the Rookie of the Year standings in his debut NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with 190 points. The Christchurch, New Zealand, native has competed exclusively in road and street course races. Throughout his first 11 races in the series, he has recorded three top-eight finishes and led the field for five laps.

“I am very proud and excited to continue with Chip Ganassi Racing for next year and beyond. Together with this very talented and experienced team, I am confident we can compete at the highest level in this championship. I feel very grateful that Chip has given me the time to adapt to INDYCAR and has helped me every step of the way in what has been a good season,” said Armstrong. “I’ve spent the year learning from a great group of people, including my teammates and Dario. I’m very grateful for how much help I’ve received from each team member. With a season under my belt, I now want to turn these lessons into results. I will be racing on the ovals for the first time next year and it’s an exciting challenge that I’m confident I can learn quickly. I spent the entire month of May either in the engineering office or in the pit stand this year, trying to familiarize myself with the details of oval racing. It’s a challenge that excites me a lot.”

Armstrong made the jump to race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Chip Ganassi Racing after competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2020 to 2022 where he earned four wins and eight podiums.

“Marcus Armstrong has proven in 2023 his quick adaptation to INDYCAR road and street tracks. He’s ready to be a full-time Chip Ganassi Racing INDYCAR driver,” said Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull. “Winning is integrated into his racing resume. This includes his pursuit of the 2023 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year. He knows how to win as a teammate. Next comes ovals at the highest global level. We look forward to a long-term relationship driven by growth and opportunity in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Marcus.”

What’s good for them, both drivers signed multi-year deals. They don’t have to deal with this for a while. They’ll join Dixon now in the camp.

Ganassi likes winners and with Lundqvist winning last year’s Indy NXT title as well as what he did with Meyer Shank Racing this season, he found himself a good one.

“It’s terrific that the opportunity to hire Linus, a proven winner, plus the reigning 2022 INDY NXT Champion is now a reality at Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull. “He has shown that his on-track performance creates the racecraft separation that’s required in INDYCAR today. Growing together with Linus is what comes next.”

After winning the 2022 INDY NXT championship, Lundqvist made the jump to compete in three INDYCAR races this season with Meyer Shank Racing. 

Lundqvist wasted no time making his mark, setting the fastest lap time among all drivers in two of his first three races in the series. 

“I have dipped my toes into INDYCAR racing in recent weeks, which will give me a little bit of a head start going into 2024,” said Lundqvist. “Coming up through INDY NXT has provided me with some important experience that will help me get up to speed. Having said that, this is an entirely new challenge as I prepare to join an established top team at the highest level of the sport. I know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but having a team like Chip Ganassi Racing put their trust in me is the greatest motivator I could ever have. I intend to do everything in my power to grab this opportunity and I look forward to all the moments ahead, next year and beyond.”

Lundqvist dominated throughout the 2022 INDY NXT season, clinching the championship by a margin of 92 points after earning five wins, nine podiums and seven pole positions. He made his series debut in 2021, where he finished third in the points standings with three wins, 11 podiums and three pole positions.

Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, Lundqvist previously won the 2020 Formula Regional Americas Championship, the 2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship and the 2016 Formula STCC Nordic Championship. 

The best news of all, Ganassi confirmed last Sunday that Palou will in fact be returning too.

“Alex Palou’s going to be in our car,” Ganassi boasted. “I can tell you that.”

With his contract ending in 2023, that also likely means that Palou will be operating on a multi-year deal as well. As a result, all four of the drivers in 2024 will have multiple years of service left.

With Ganassi going 1-2 in points this season and likely producing the Rookie of the Year, the future is as bright as ever.

“They have the best cars right now,” Will Power says “They do. They’re able to extract the most out of qualifying. Their cars look good off the tires, they’re very fast in the race, and their strategy’s good — they’re just simply the best team right now. They are.

“They’ve got good cars, good drivers. You think about Palou and Dixon and even Ericsson. Marcus Armstrong is a rookie, but also very quick. They’ve got a very tough group.”

Power says that it is has nothing to do with a Honda vs. Chevy thing here either. It’s just the fact that Ganassi is purely outperforming them across the board.

“No, I don’t think much to do with the engines. I think the engines are pretty equal,” Power said. “I think the Chevy has a bit more top end. Honda might have a bit more torque down low. But all in all over laps, it’s probably pretty similar.

“Ganassi definitely have good cars right now.”

Still, while Penske is regarded as the top team ever in the sport with 236 wins and 298 poles ( compared to 130 wins and 95 to Ganassi, they’ve also been doing it for decades longer too. Ganassi is by all accounts, closing that gap back up.

If you go back to 1996, Penske leads Ganassi 140-129 in regards to trips to victory lane. In the two most important matrix, Indy 500 wins and championships, Penske leads 8-5 in trips to victory lane on Memorial Day weekend. However, Ganassi has doubled Penske up in championships 15-7 in that span as well.

This duo has ebbed and flowed with Penske winning 7 times in 2020 to 5 by Ganassi. In 2021, it was Ganassi with 6 wins and Penske with 3. Last year it was 9-4 and this year 7-5. That’s Penske leading 24-23 in victories during the Aeroscreen era.

Penske outperformed Ganassi in 2022 only for Ganassi to pay them back.