CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD TO REPLACE SCOTT DIXON AT CHIP GANASSI RACING
Christian Lundgaard will join Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2027 IndyCar season, replacing six-time champion Scott Dixon in the famous No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. The Danish driver has signed a multi-year contract with Ganassi and will join Alex Palou and Kyffin Simpson in the team’s 2027 line-up.
Lundgaard is coming off the best season of his IndyCar career. In 2026, he won two races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America, added five more podium finishes and finished third in the championship with 535 points. He also scored his first podium on an oval, finishing third at Milwaukee.
The 25-year-old Dane has now made 87 IndyCar starts, taking three victories, four poles, 16 podiums and 21 top-five finishes. His first IndyCar win came at Toronto in 2023 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He then moved to Arrow McLaren for the 2025 season, where he spent two years before securing his move to Ganassi.
Lundgaard’s move comes after a major change for Ganassi. Dixon will leave the team at the end of the 2026 season after 24 full-time seasons with the organisation. During that time, the New Zealander won six IndyCar championships and 58 of his 59 career victories with Ganassi. He will join Arrow McLaren for 2027.
The No. 9 is therefore entering a new era after more than two decades with Dixon. The car has become one of the most successful entries in IndyCar, and Lundgaard will take over a seat that has been associated with Dixon since the early 2000s. Ganassi has also confirmed that PNC Bank will continue as the primary partner of the No. 9 Honda in 2027.
Lundgaard said he understands the importance of replacing Dixon and described the opportunity as a major step in his career. He also said that he wants to carry on the legacy of the No. 9 while improving as a driver and learning from the people around him.
One of the main areas Lundgaard will look to improve is his oval record. All three of his IndyCar victories have come on road or street courses, but his third-place finish at Milwaukee in 2026 was his best result on an oval and showed progress in that area. Ganassi will give him access to a team with extensive experience on every type of IndyCar circuit.
Lundgaard will also become teammates with Alex Palou, who has won five of the last six IndyCar championships. The Danish driver has already spoken about the chance to work alongside Palou and learn from the organisation that has helped the Spaniard become one of the leading drivers in the series.
The move also reunites Lundgaard with Honda. He raced Honda-powered cars during his first three full IndyCar seasons before moving to Chevrolet with Arrow McLaren in 2025. He will return to Honda machinery when the 2027 season begins.
Ganassi’s 2027 line-up will therefore feature Palou, Lundgaard and Simpson, giving the team a much younger driver group following Dixon’s departure. The organisation will now prepare for its first season without Dixon in the No. 9 since 2002.
The 2027 IndyCar season is scheduled to begin on March 7 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Lundgaard will make his first race start for Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 9 Honda as he begins the next chapter of his IndyCar career.
Share this content:
