IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement

Alex Palou primary sponsor American Legion is set to move to the car of Chip Ganassi Racing rookie teammate Linus Lundqvist for the 2024 IndyCar season.

Despite being the top team in IndyCar and recording their first 1-2 finish in the championship standings since 2009 in 2023, Chip Ganassi Racing were not exempt from this past season’s silly season chaos.

All things considered, the four-car team have become a five-car team, and a total of three changes have been made to their lineup for the 2024 season — and there could have been more, had Alex Palou not changed his mind on moving to Arrow McLaren.

Now it has been confirmed that rookie Linus Lundqvist, who is set to replace the Andretti Autosport-bound Marcus Ericsson behind the wheel of the No. 8 Honda, is set to compete with primary sponsorship from American Legion.

American Legion had been the primary sponsor of Alex Palou’s No. 10 Honda for most of his championship-winning 2023 IndyCar season.

With PNC Bank set to continue to sponsor Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Honda and Ridgeline Lubricants set to continue to sponsor not only the No. 11 Honda in the majority of races as Marcus Armstrong goes from part-time driver to full-time driver but also the additional entry of rookie Kyffin Simpson, that leaves only Palou’s No. 10 Honda needing sponsorship confirmation.

It has long been rumored that longtime Andretti Autosport sponsor DHL, which announced their departure from the team after 13 seasons once the 2023 season concluded, will move to Chip Ganassi Racing and sponsor Palou full-time.

The confirmation of American Legion’s move to Lundqvist’s car, as speculated in late September, is a pretty good indicator that this is still on the cards.

DHL’s announcement confirming their departure from Andretti Autosport did not confirm that they were leaving IndyCar entirely, with the company even confirming that they looked to remain active in “sports sponsorships”. Now it seems to be only a matter of time before their new destination is confirmed.

A move to two-time and reigning champion Palou’s car could breathe new life into one of IndyCar’s longest standing sponsors. The championship-winning and Indy 500-winning brand with Ryan Hunter-Reay have not seen the top step of an IndyCar podium since 2018.