Ganassi making progress in Dixon sponsor search

Chip Ganassi Racing's Verizon IndyCar Series team will start a new season without Target as its primary sponsor for the first time in 27 years, but progress is being made on finding a replacement.

RACER has learned Scott Dixon's No. 9 entry, sporting a new Honda engine and aero kit, is expected to follow a similar routine seen during the Target era where one company serves as the main sponsor at most rounds and other companies sign on as the primary for select events. It remains unclear whether the No. 9 will appear at the championship opener at St. Petersburg with a new, season-long sponsor in place, or if that company's identity will be revealed after the March 12 race.

The departure of Target and the switch from Chevrolet's engines and aero kits mark two of the biggest changes in the IndyCar paddock for 2017. Barring Dixon's No. 9, the four-car program, featuring Max Chilton's No. 8, Tony Kanaan's No. 10 and Charlie Kimball's No. 83 will see a continuation of primary sponsorships from Gallagher, NTT Data, and Novo Nordisk, respectively.

All four CGR cars will visit Phoenix International Raceway later this week to participate in IndyCar's two-day open test on the one-mile oval. Following IndyCar's long-awaited return to Phoenix in 2016 where Dixon dominated the race and scored his penultimate win using Chevy's products in Target's colors, the Kiwi and his teammates will get their first taste of Honda power and aerodynamics in a group setting.

Coming off a year where Chevy won 14 of 16 races, including every short oval and road/street course, its high-downforce package provided a clear advantage. Chevy teams were blessed with more downforce and less drag than Honda's high-downforce aero kit, and with IndyCar's decision to freeze aero kit development for 2017, CGR will serve as an interesting benchmark to follow as it learns to work with Honda's package.

Based on Chevy's short-oval mastery last year, including Dixon's fearsome pace at Phoenix, the CGR team – and Dixon's No. 9 entry in particular – at the upcoming test should provide an accurate assessment of where the Japanese brand will stand in relation to the Bowtie at most of the rounds on the 2017 calendar.