Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsChip Ganassi’s argument is straightforward: Christian Lundgaard is not an untested prospect who must first learn IndyCar. He arrives with five full seasons, five Indianapolis 500 starts, a career-best third-place finish in the 2026 championship and a record of completing races and collecting points. Ganassi believes that combination makes Lundgaard the most immediately ready driver available for the team’s 2027 lineup.
The move is still a projection, not proof of future results. Lundgaard’s road- and street-course record is stronger than his oval record, although his oval results have improved and his first oval podium came at Milwaukee in 2026. That development is the central question as he takes over the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda seat previously held by Scott Dixon.
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Why Ganassi selected Lundgaard
In a September 30, 2026 interview, Chip Ganassi explained that the driver market looked different when a third-place championship finisher was available. “When is the last time a guy that finished third in the points was available?” he asked. Ganassi said the team compared Lundgaard with other potential drivers, including how long an outsider would need to learn IndyCar’s circuits, car behavior and American racing culture.
Lundgaard removes much of that learning curve. He has already raced on the series’ permanent road courses, temporary street circuits, superspeedways and short ovals. He has also started the Indianapolis 500 five times. For a team replacing a driver with 24 full-time seasons in the car, that familiarity matters as much as raw speed.
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Ganassi repeatedly returned to execution. A driver who keeps the car running, avoids avoidable losses and scores steadily can contribute to a championship effort even before everything is perfectly optimized. Lundgaard’s 2026 season gave the owner a results-based reason to believe that he can do that immediately.
The results that made him the obvious candidate
| Measure | Lundgaard’s result | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 championship | Third | Career best, completed 2026 season |
| 2026 victories | Two | Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America |
| 2026 oval result | First oval podium | Milwaukee |
| IndyCar record at the September 29, 2026 announcement | 87 starts, three wins, 16 podiums, 21 top-five finishes | Career totals stated by Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Indy 500 experience | Five starts | Experience cited by Ganassi in his September 30 interview |
Those numbers do not establish that Lundgaard will reproduce the same level at Ganassi. They explain why the team viewed him as a proven, still-developing driver rather than a gamble on potential alone. The 87-start total is especially relevant to a team hiring for immediate contribution: he has already experienced different tire strategies, restart procedures, weather changes and the long season of travel that can expose an inexperienced driver.
How Lundgaard’s IndyCar progression supports the bet
Lundgaard entered IndyCar in 2021 and was named Rookie of the Year in 2022. His first series victory came at Toronto in 2023. In 2025, his first season with Arrow McLaren, he finished fifth in points and recorded six podiums. He then moved up to third in 2026, adding two wins and his first oval podium.
| Season | Milestone or result |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Joined IndyCar |
| 2022 | IndyCar Rookie of the Year |
| 2023 | First IndyCar win, Toronto |
| 2025 | Fifth in points with six podiums in his first Arrow McLaren season |
| 2026 | Third in points, two wins and first oval podium |
The sequence is important to Ganassi’s reasoning. Lundgaard has not simply accumulated starts; his championship position, win total and oval results have moved forward over time. His 2026 ranking also shows that he can sustain a season-long points campaign, not just produce isolated qualifying or race highlights.
The team therefore gets two kinds of experience. Lundgaard knows the IndyCar environment, and he has recently learned how to change organizations after moving to Arrow McLaren. That transition produced a fifth-place championship and six podiums in 2025, useful evidence that he can absorb a new engineering culture without losing competitiveness. His 2026 third place indicates that the adaptation continued rather than being a one-season spike.
Is Christian Lundgaard good on ovals?
Ovals remain the least settled part of the case. An INDYCAR review of the 2025 season placed Lundgaard second among 27 drivers in road- and street-course points but eighth in oval points. He produced three top-seven finishes in five oval starts that year, after entering the season with only two top-10 oval finishes in his first 17 starts.
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His average oval finish also improved each season in the available retrospective:
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| Season | Average oval finish |
|---|---|
| Rookie season | 18.4 |
| 2023 | 17.6 |
| 2024 | 15.28 |
| 2025 | 13.16 |
These are season-specific figures from the 2025 retrospective, not current career averages. They show progress, but they do not erase the gap between Lundgaard’s oval performance and his road-course performance. They also should not be mixed with his completed 2026 championship numbers: the 2025 comparison describes one season among 27 drivers, while third in the 2026 standings is a full-season result across the entire calendar.
Why Milwaukee changed the conversation
Lundgaard’s first oval podium at Milwaukee in 2026 supplied the clearest new evidence. Ganassi said he did not view the result as an oval concern because Lundgaard finished ahead of all three Ganassi drivers at the event. That is a meaningful competitive signal, particularly because it came against the organization he is joining.
It is not a complete answer. One podium cannot demonstrate consistent performance at every oval, and Lundgaard has acknowledged that he still wants to improve. The fair reading is that Milwaukee validates the direction of his development while leaving sustained oval execution as the major test of the 2027 move.
That test includes more than the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar’s ovals differ in length, banking, traffic and tire degradation. A driver can be comfortable on one type of oval and still struggle when the car becomes sensitive in turbulent air or when a race demands several clean restarts. Ganassi’s confidence is therefore best understood as confidence in Lundgaard’s rate of improvement, not a claim that every oval problem has disappeared.
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Ganassi’s assessment includes how Lundgaard works, not only where he finished in the standings. He described the driver as “clinical” and “a student of the craft.” In Ganassi’s account, early driver meetings concentrate on character, values and cultural fit before the discussion turns to technical setup.
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That approach matters in a multi-car organization. Drivers share data, compare approaches and influence how quickly a team identifies a workable direction. A clinical driver is expected to make decisions methodically; a student of the craft is expected to keep learning instead of assuming that a previous result proves everything.
Ganassi summarized the hiring philosophy with another short statement: “We just look for people with talent.” In Lundgaard’s case, talent is being evaluated alongside experience, results and the willingness to continue developing the weakest part of his record.
The wording is also a reminder about attribution. “Built for success” is Ganassi’s description of the fit and the potential. It is not an independent forecast that Lundgaard will win a championship in the No. 9. The evidence supports readiness and upside; the outcome remains to be earned on track.
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Who is replacing Scott Dixon in the No. 9?
Ganassi signed Lundgaard to a multi-year deal beginning in 2027. He will drive the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda, the seat Scott Dixon held for 24 full-time seasons. Lundgaard will join Alex Palou and Kyffin Simpson in the team’s full-time lineup.
Dixon’s tenure creates an unavoidable benchmark, but it is not a direct statistical comparison. Dixon leaves a seat associated with extraordinary longevity and success; Lundgaard arrives with a different profile: five seasons, 87 starts by the September 2026 announcement and a career-best third-place championship finish. The sensible question is not whether Lundgaard can instantly duplicate Dixon’s career, but whether he can convert his current upward trajectory into results at a championship-caliber organization.
The timing also explains why Ganassi valued availability. A top-three driver is rarely on the market, and signing Lundgaard gives the team continuity in experience while refreshing the lineup. He is familiar enough to contribute from the opening test, yet young enough in his IndyCar career to have identifiable areas for growth.
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What Lundgaard expects from the move
Lundgaard has said that joining Ganassi gives him an opportunity to learn from Palou and bring a different team and driver perspective. That is his stated outlook, not a guarantee that the partnership will produce wins.
His public attitude is captured in one sentence: “I only want to get better.” At Ganassi, that means turning information from teammates and engineers into gains across both track types, while preserving the consistency that produced his 2026 points finish.
Learning from Palou could be particularly useful because the two drivers bring different competitive histories and feedback styles. Lundgaard’s value is not to copy a teammate, but to add another reference point when the organization evaluates setup direction, tire management and race strategy. Whether that exchange produces an advantage will depend on testing, communication and execution rather than on the lineup announcement alone.
The performance questions for 2027 and beyond
The first season should be judged with separate road-course and oval lenses rather than by a single headline result. Lundgaard has already demonstrated that he can score heavily on road and street courses. The open issue is whether the Milwaukee breakthrough becomes a pattern at the Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee-type short ovals and other oval venues.
Indicators that would confirm Ganassi’s thesis
- Maintaining front-running road- and street-course pace while adapting to Ganassi’s engineering methods.
- Finishing ovals consistently inside the points rather than relying on one standout result.
- Converting strong track position into completed races and a low rate of avoidable losses.
- Contributing useful technical feedback within a lineup that includes Palou and Simpson.
- Improving his championship position without sacrificing the reliability that made him attractive.
- Turning the upward oval trend from 18.4 average finish as a rookie to 13.16 in 2025 into another measurable step across a full season.
Signs that the concern remains unresolved
- A repeated drop in points position on oval weekends compared with road and street courses.
- Strong qualifying speed that does not translate into race finishes.
- Reliance on isolated podiums without a broader improvement in oval averages.
- A season in which the No. 9 scores well only when the calendar favors road courses.
- Failure to convert Ganassi’s technical resources into fewer mistakes or stronger late-race pace.
What the evidence proves—and what it does not
The evidence supports Ganassi’s selection logic: Lundgaard is experienced, fast enough to finish third in the 2026 championship, familiar with IndyCar’s venues and still improving. His 2025 and 2026 seasons also show that he can combine wins, podiums and points consistency.
It does not prove that the No. 9 will immediately match Dixon’s output, that Lundgaard’s oval gains are permanent or that a new team environment will automatically produce more victories. Those outcomes must be established through future races. Ganassi is making a calculated choice based on demonstrated readiness and remaining upside, with oval performance as the clearest unresolved variable.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Chip Ganassi choose Christian Lundgaard?
Ganassi pointed to Lundgaard’s third-place 2026 championship finish, five IndyCar seasons, five Indianapolis 500 starts and familiarity with the series. The owner also values Lundgaard’s clinical approach and learning mindset.
Is Christian Lundgaard good on ovals?
His oval record has lagged his road- and street-course results, but it has improved. His average oval finish rose from 18.4 as a rookie to 13.16 in 2025, and he earned his first oval podium at Milwaukee in 2026. Consistency across future oval races remains unproven.
Who is replacing Scott Dixon in the No. 9 IndyCar?
Christian Lundgaard takes over the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2027. Dixon held the seat for 24 full-time seasons.
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He finished third in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America, and scored his first oval podium at Milwaukee.
How many IndyCar starts and podiums did Lundgaard have when Ganassi announced the deal?
Chip Ganassi Racing listed 87 starts, three wins, 16 podiums and 21 top-five finishes in its September 29, 2026 announcement.
What is the biggest question about Lundgaard at Ganassi?
Whether his improving oval form becomes dependable over a full season. Milwaukee was encouraging, but one podium cannot establish a sustained advantage at every oval.
The Bottom Line
Ganassi chose Lundgaard because the driver combines immediate IndyCar readiness with room to improve. A third-place 2026 championship, 87 starts, five Indianapolis 500 appearances and improving oval results make the move more than a prospect gamble. The No. 9’s success will ultimately be measured by whether Lundgaard turns that foundation into repeatable oval performance and championship-level consistency.
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