Scott Dixon

On Sunday, when Scott Dixon tied Mario Andretti for second all-time in IndyCar wins, Chip Ganassi gave no congratulatory public comments to the media.

That’s his thing, but the way I see it, he’s my teammate until at least the end of this season, and I’m going to work the same way with him, and I feel like he’s been the same to me as he’s been the last year and a half.” That will be precisely the challenge: unselfish work for one man and one team, even as personal aspirations — both on and off-track divert drastically in the coming weeks. What you see here is perhaps the tip of the iceberg of what goes on at Chip Ganassi Racing for how hard everybody unselfishly works.” “And we relish a day like today being able to do that. He’s been on Dixon’s timing stand for all his 51 victories with the team, a truly impressive, unmatched partnership filled with some of the sport’s biggest and most sought-after milestones. And it’s a run like that that may be needed to overcome a 40-point deficit to the likes of Ericsson, Power, Palou and Newgarden — four championships to their names, three of them since the start of 2017 when it hasn’t been Dixon. Dixon, said Friday that none of the noise should have any affect on his No. 9 crew, as awkward as the digestion of it all may be, but he noticed a particular calmness to his boss. “Obviously there’s noise, but it is what it is, and it’s part of the job. “I know from the outside, things can look a bit chaotic, but at the end of the day, it’s racing and we put everything aside to race,” Palou told IndyStar post-race. A strong first practice on a track he’d never visited led to early contact while pushing to find the limits in Practice No. 2, sustaining heavy damage to his No. 10 Honda that ended the session. I think what Chip does, whether it’s his tough pep talks, this is his only business he’s in, and all he wants to do is win. No sweat, no stutters, just a few pauses and a handful of wry smiles.