Can Lundgaard bring the fight to Palou at Ganassi?

For everyone who’s grown downright tired and dispirited by Alex Palou’s dominance, there’s a new chance for change and his name is Christian Lundgaard.

What kind of pressure can Lundgaard bring to bear in a car and team that should be better than anything he’s experienced over the last five years with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Arrow McLaren? Lundgaard isn’t a rookie, nor is he on the backside of a quarter-century career, which is an intriguing proposition to consider. He’s claimed the No. 9 car in full hunter-killer mode, just as Palou’s been since finding his footing with the No. 10 car at Ganassi.

What a gift to IndyCar fans with this pairing.

Disruption of a well-established Ganassi superstar has been the team’s reality since Palou arrived, and I’m curious to see if the trend will continue now that Lundgaard’s been presented with the same opportunity.

Coming off a rookie season with Dale Coyne in 2020, where he placed an unremarkable 16th in the standings, Palou sent a message by winning his first race for Chip Ganassi. By the halfway point in his debut season with Ganassi, he’d stood on the podium four times and finished second at the Indianapolis 500. At the end of the 16-race run in 2021, Palou added four more podiums — eight in total — and two more wins. It was a foreshadowing of the most ridiculous kind.

The IndyCar sophomore, given a surprising shot to join the defending champions alongside 2020 title winner Scott Dixon, was crowned as IndyCar’s best in his first attempt with the team. There was nothing to suggest he was capable of rocking up and spoiling Dixon’s plans to win a second consecutive championship, but the tides were indeed turning.

As he matured into his late 20s, Palou rose to become Ganassi’s new lead driver as he reeled off four straight championships to bring his running total to five while displacing Dixon from more than a decade of being the team’s top performer. Now in his mid-40s, Dixon’s continued the pursuit of a seventh championship, but each attempt fell short while Palou further established himself as Ganassi’s main championship threat, which brings us to the arrival of 25-year-old Christian Lundgaard.

For the first time since he took control of Ganassi and the IndyCar Series, Palou has a young challenger to face who is scary-good and only getting better. And extremely confident. And supremely aggressive. This isn’t an ageing all-time great trying to keep hold of the magic or a babe in the woods arriving from Indy NXT or F2; Lundgaard’s the new lion looking to bring an end to the 10 car’s reign, and that’s something we haven’t seen to this degree inside Ganassi during the Palou era.

It’s here where the hope for a sustained challenge to Palou’s throne is found, and it’s also where a fascinating character study just might be on the horizon.

Through the open sharing of knowledge from Dixon and mentorship from Dario Franchitti, Jimmie Johnson, and Scott Pruett at various points during his formative years at Ganassi, Palou developed a nearly unbeatable set of tools that he’s used to rule the series for most of the decade.

He’s also dealt with mental anguish and doubt during the self-induced adversity of 2022 when he tried to leave Ganassi for McLaren Racing and saw his output suffer as Team Penske’s Will Power took the title and he faded to fifth.

But there was a positive for Palou on the competitive side once he went through that ordeal, and it was with the newfound inner strength that emerged and ignited his current and unbroken championship streak that began in 2023.

During that span, he was sued by McLaren, negotiated a new contract with Ganassi, took part in a prolonged court case, lost most of the rulings (which went in McLaren’s favor), was ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars to McLaren, and eventually settled with McLaren for an undisclosed sum. And through the lingering turmoil, Palou never flinched. New teammates in Marcus Armstrong, Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson were introduced and dispatched with ease. Veteran teammate Marcus Ericsson was handled as well.

Thankfully, Lundgaard doesn’t fit into any of those categories.

He’s the first next-generation star to join Ganassi during Palou’s tenure, and we’re less than six months away from finding out whether Lundgaard has what it takes to match and exceed Palou across an entire championship frame. Only on rare occasion have we seen Palou get beaten by a teammate; what if Lundgaard rocks up to the first race and emulates Palou by winning on debut for Ganassi?

And if he does run wheel-to-wheel with Palou and disrupts the quest for five-in-a-row, how will Palou deal with being defeated on a semi-regular basis? Will he draw from that deep well of fortitude to grow and improve from the experience, or will he struggle and spiral and struggle in a repeat of 2022?

These are questions Palou hasn’t had to face from a younger rival within the same team, but with all that Lundgaard’s shown so far, there’s a reason to believe there’s a ton of heat headed towards the champ.

And then there’s the flipside of the opportunity Lundgaard has accepted.

Palou’s defeated and/or dispatched every teammate he’s encountered; he’s the last one standing from that 2021 season, and has reshaped an entire organization to rally behind his No. 10 car as the primary weapon to defeat an entire series. Landing at RLL and feasting on his teammates wasn’t a challenge. Joining Arrow McLaren and eventually beating Pato O’Ward — who is by no means as complete a driver as Palou — was the more impressive feat, but there’s levels to this game.

Matching and slightly exceeding O’Ward in 2026, while driving for a team that’s built around O’Ward, is what got Lundgaard the job at Ganassi. But what if rising to out-run Palou, in a team that’s built the perfect entry with the No. 10 car, is where his story reaches its end? What if the Palou that’s crushed the field, who hasn’t been pushed to the brink by any teammate after 2021, is sparked with increased motivation by Lundgaard and unlocks more speed and greater success? Let’s not ignore the risk that awaits Ganassi’s newest driver. There’s a dark ending to this dream opportunity if Palou continues being Palou.

I have every expectation for Lundgaard to bring the No. 9 car to victory lane on multiple occasions next year and for the duration of his time with the team. But what I don’t know is if those will be token victories while Palou runs away with more titles, or if a new disruptor has been welcomed into the building and the tides are about to turn in Lundgaard’s favor.

There’s another topic to explore on its own of whether these two will get along and work in harmony or if they’re destined to clash and destabilize each other to the benefit of their rivals. We’ll save that for another day.

Jimmy Vasser won the team’s first championship in 1996 and was usurped by newcomer Alex Zanardi in 1997. Dixon was a three-time champion for Ganassi through 2008 and was demoted by Franchitti who captured three championships in a row from 2009-2011. Dixon snared three more titles from 2013-2020 and met an earned kid by the name of Alex Palou who hasn’t stopped winning for the team. Could it be Lundgaard’s turn to add to Ganassi’s championship legacy at the expense of the established king?

The answers to our numerous questions will be offered starting in March at St. Petersburg.

Two hunter-killers, in their early prime, with the best cars, in the best team, and with no team orders. I can’t wait for the 2027 IndyCar season to get under way.