Chip Ganassi sends ominous message to IndyCar rivals after Alex Palou's dominant title win

Chip Ganassi, the owner of one of IndyCar's most successful teams, has shared an ominous message for his rivals. Chip Ganassi Racing won a record-equaling 17th championship in the series this year on the back of a dominant season from Alex Palou.

The Spaniard was eyeing a third consecutive championship and fourth overall entering the 2025 season. While fans and analysts expected a tough battle for the title, Palou demolished his opponents, opening the season with five wins in six races, including a magnificent first victory at the Indy 500.

He added three more wins to his tally and finished on the podium five more times en route to joining IndyCar greats like Mario Andretti, Sebastian Bourdais, and Dario Franchitti with four championships. While it seems difficult for Alex Palou to repeat such heroics at any point in the future, his boss Chip Ganassi believes that they've only scratched the surface of the 28-year-old's potential.

Alex Palou poses with his wife and daughter after winning the 109th Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

In a recent interview with Bruce Martin on the Pit Pass Indy podcast, Ganassi said:

"He's (Palou) plenty motivated, and he wants to do well and wants to do better. I hate to tell everybody this, but he's not peaked yet."

Palou wrapped up the 2025 IndyCar championship in Portland with two races remaining in the season. This is a rare sight in the premier American open-wheel racing series, where championship battles usually go down to the last race of the season.

Chip Ganassi never thought he'd find another IndyCar driver like Scott Dixon before Alex Palou's arrival

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi, and Alex Palou with their trophies at the NTT INDYCAR Series Season Awards - Source: Getty

Chip Ganassi has had a knack for identifying championship-worthy drivers like Alex Zanardi, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and more. In only 35 years as a team owner in IndyCar, Ganassi has won 17 championships - nearly a 50% hit rate.

Dixon was the most successful among all of Chip Ganassi Racing's drivers ever, winning six championships. Moreover, the New Zealand driver has won at least one race in the last 21 consecutive seasons.

On the aforementioned podcast, Ganassi mentioned how he wasn't expecting to find another driver like Scott Dixon before Alex Palou proved him wrong.

"I think he's (Palou) got more championships in him. I hate to tell everybody else that, but you know, it's rare that you find a guy... I never thought I'd find a guy that could match Scott Dixon, and you know, here we are now finishing 1-3 in the championship with Alex and Scott," the 67-year-old said.

In 2025, Scott Dixon struggled to match his 28-year-old teammate because the new, heavier cars with IndyCar's latest hybrid power units didn't facilitate success with the Kiwi driver's racing style. Contrastingly, it played into Palou's hands, who Dixon highlighted has a 'smoother' driving style.