Chip Ganassi is adamant that newly crowned two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou will be driving for him and thus not McLaren in 2024.
The Spaniard is in the middle of yet another contract dispute but this time it is the Woking-based organisation which is the party feeling spurned.
It has taken legal action against Palou but that has proved no distraction for him in the closing stages of the 2023 IndyCar season.
“Alex Palou’s going to be in our car, I can tell you that; it’s true,” declared Ganassi on the NBC Sports telecast which is carried in Australia by Stan Sport, as celebrations began in pit lane.
The title is Chip Ganassi Racing’s fifth in IndyCar, and a podium in Portland for Dixon means that a one-two in the series is now also secure.
Dixon is still on six crowns while Palou has a second after not quite four full seasons in the category, having scored his first when he arrived at the Honda squad in 2021.
“Certainly special,” said Ganassi of the 26-year-old.
“We noticed that in his first race win at Barber, three years ago, and we knew the guy was special.
“He’s part of our team – we couldn’t be more happy about that – and he likes to win, he likes being at the front.
“I said, ‘Hey, let’s go wrap this thing up today.’
“He looked at me and he said, ‘I’m going to wrap it up with a win.’ I said, ‘Okay, great.’ He called the shot today.”
The win is Palou’s fifth of the 2023 season to date, with his worst results so far this year being eighth at St Petersburg and Iowa.
Assuming the likelihood that Ganassi is correct in his assertion, CGR has now confirmed three quarters of its 2024 line-up, with 2022 Indy NXT champion Linus Lundqvist joining Palou and Dixon on a multi-year deal.
2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson is off to Andretti Autosport while there is no word yet on Car #11, shared this year by Marcus Ericsson and Takuma Sato.
The final race of the current campaign takes place at Laguna Seca next weekend (September 8-10, local time).
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