INDYCAR: Ganassi engineer tipped for Andretti

Andretti Autosport is expected to announce its acquisition of championship-winning engineer Eric Bretzman from Chip Ganassi Racing. Bretzman, who served as Scott Dixon's race engineer for 12 years (pictured with Dixon in 2014) and won three IndyCar championships and the 2008 Indy 500 with the New Zealander, was reassigned to Ganassi's NASCAR program in 2015 to help turn around the engineering side of its fading Sprint Cup operation.

With Ganassi's Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray now safely in The Chase, and Andretti in need of an engineering rebound after a tough 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season, the signing of Bretzman could rank among the biggest off-season scores made by any team.

Attempts to reach Bretzman for comment were unsuccessful.

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It's believed Bretzman will work in the capacity of a technical director overseeing Andretti's IndyCar engineering program, and possibly some of its other racing endeavors, rather than return to the timing stand to engineer one of its IndyCar entries for the year.

At the time of his relocation from Ganassi's IndyCar program to its NASCAR operation, CGR managing director Mike Hull praised Bretzman's ability as a fixer.

"What he brings to them is a clear determination to really answer questions and solve problems," Hull said at the start of 2015. "Find a clear and direct answer and direction for everything that goes on, on a daily basis. That is what an engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing does best; he takes that cultural mindset with him when he goes to work with our people in North Carolina."

Bretzman will be tasked with the same kind of engineering lift at Andretti, and unlike his recent foray in Sprint Cup, he'll return to a series where his experience was directly responsible for two decades of success.

In concert with the rest of Andretti's excellent engineering staff, there will be heightened expectations for the Honda-powered entries piloted by Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, and the rest of the to-be-confirmed 2017 lineup with Bretzman involved.

Coming off a 2015 season where the team served as one of Honda's most prominent performers when RHR and Munoz combined for three wins, Andretti Autosport spent the majority of 2016 searching for missing speed.

Despite the valiant efforts led by Andretti's drivers and engineers, a single win, albeit at the Indy 500 with Alexander Rossi, was the lone bright spot among far too many races where ill-handling cars blighted the program's capabilities. By adding Bretzman in a senior engineering role to spearhead a turnaround, a return to form would seem inevitable.

And on a lighter note, with Eric's younger brother Ben having just won his first IndyCar championship with Simon Pagenaud at Team Penske, the Bretzman rivalry will resume as Andretti Autosport seeks its first title since 2012.