The Chip Ganassi Racing team will be downsizing its presence in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2025 and returning to the Indy NXT series.
The move on the IndyCar side has been expected, and comes in reaction to the series’ new charter program. The structure of the charter limits the distribution of memberships to a maximum of three entries per teams who qualify for the program. With five current full-time entries, Ganassi’s newest entries — the No. 11 Honda added in 2023 and the No. 4 Honda, which debuted this season — will not be included once charters are issued.
The No. 8 Honda driven by Linus Lundqvist, No. 9 Honda driven by Scott Dixon, and the No. 10 Honda driven by Alex Palou are the only cars eligible to receive charters, and as a result, Ganassi will shutter the two non-charter entries.
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Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No. 4 car (pictured above), is tipped to step into the No. 8 entry, although the team’s complete driver plans will be confirmed at a later date. With a deep roster of crew members to support, Ganassi will make use of its existing employees to field a new two-car Indy NXT effort.
“The biggest thing for us is we have a lot of really good people, and we’re in the midst of a downsize,” CGR team manager Taylor Kiel told RACER. “We’re losing the sports car program with Cadillac, and this charter system is forcing us into three cars, so first and foremost, we’re trying to figure out what to do with our good people.
“When you couple that with what we’re seeing in the IndyCar Series and what we’re seeing in Indy NXT, we’ve got a lot of confidence in joining the [NXT] series. The NXT car counts are up. The quality of teams is up. There’s a lot of bonuses to being a part of that series as an IndyCar team, beyond just finding a place for our people. It’s a natural fit for us and it’s been discussed in the past here for quite a while.”
The addition of a junior open-wheel team marks the team’s third participation in the NTT IndyCar Series’ top development category. After retiring from driving, Chip Ganassi’s early foray into team ownership involved a NXT program in 1989 with the late Joe Stimola to run Johnny O’Connell under the championship’s original name, the American Racing Series, and again — in what was then known as the Infiniti Pro Series — in 2007 for Chris Festa and Pablo Perez Companc.
“Business is wide open,” Kiel said. “We don’t have drivers signed, but we’re going on this journey and we trust in the series. We think the opportunities for good drivers and good talent is aplenty. The doors are wide open, the phones are open. As we’re heading into the late stage of the season, talking with drivers and getting the NXT program up and running is top of mind.”
The maneuver further strengthens the team’s involvement in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock by adding two cars to the Indy NXT championship owned by Penske Entertainment. Only two IndyCar teams — Andretti Global and Juncos Hollinger Racing — currently participate.
It also provides another avenue for CGR to develop new talent to eventually join its top programs in the future. Although the majority of the NXT team will be comprised of veterans at the outset, new opportunities will arise to bring new crew members into the organization and develop their skills.
Kiel, by chance, is a perfect representation of an entry-level racing employee who entered the sport as a helper at the Sam Schmidt Motorsports Indy Lights team in the 2000s and worked his way up to become president of its current evolution — the Arrow McLaren IndyCar effort — before departing for Ganassi.
“There’s the opportunity there for this and we’re prepared to take advantage of what we think is a great series,” he said. “Myself, I’m a good example that it’s a fantastic place to go and learn. Started out in Indy Lights. It was my first job. And the beauty of the series is you have to do everything. You’ve got to fabricate. You have to weld. You have to clean. You’ve got to do carbon repair work. You’ve got to do sub-assembly work. You’ve got to build the cars. You’re driving everywhere.
“You’re doing all the things that really forge a strong bond and a strong team and strong skills. So I think it’s a great thing to have NXT in our racing ecosystem. The timing’s right, opportunities will be there, so we’re poised to take advantage of it.”