Christian Lundgaard ready to carry on Scott Dixon’s legacy in Ganassi’s No. 9

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INDIANAPOLIS — Christian Lundgaard knows exactly whose seat he is taking at Chip Ganassi Racing.

That distinction matters to the 25-year-old Dane as he prepares to replace Scott Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda, one of the most recognizable rides in INDYCAR and a car Lundgaard grew up watching.

“It’s big shoes to fill,” Lundgaard said. “But at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve done what I needed to do to be able to be in that position, so I think everybody’s on board on what we need to do. We need to carry on that legacy. We need to do it better, which is going to be a tough task. But I’m all up for it.”

Lundgaard joins the winningest organization in INDYCAR history and a lineup led by Alex Palou, who has won five of the past six series championships. He will also team with Kyffin Simpson, giving Ganassi a considerably younger lineup following Dixon’s departure.

For Lundgaard, the move is as much about what he can learn as what he can immediately accomplish.

“Obviously, when you’re joining a team like Chip Ganassi, but also with Alex, who won, I guess, five out of the last six championships, it’s a driver that we’ve all been trying to beat for the last many years,” Lundgaard said. “We know what he’s capable of. But I also know he’s learned a lot from Scott, and to take over those shoes, driving the PNC car, that kind of is the guy that I always looked up to. It’s the guy that I knew. It’s the car that I knew.”

Lundgaard said his first objective is to understand what has made Palou so difficult to beat. From the outside, he has watched Palou dominate INDYCAR. Now he will have access to the same organization, data and personnel.

“I don’t really know what he’s capable of,” Lundgaard said. “You only know from the outside. So I’m very interested in just picking his brain on what we can do to improve all of us. But I think it’s a strong team, and we can push each other.”

As for how to beat Palou?

“Outsmart him, outdo Alex,” Lundgaard said.

Lundgaard also arrives at Ganassi after questions about his oval performance followed him during the driver shuffle that ultimately opened Dixon’s seat. He has little interest in allowing that narrative to define the move.

“I see it as I swapped with Scott Dixon,” Lundgaard said. “I am now taking over Scott’s seat, not the other way around. I think this was a bigger opportunity for me than anything else.”

Lundgaard in five seasons has three career victories, all on road or street courses, and scored a career-best third-place finish on an oval this year with his showing at Milwaukee. The 2026 season was his breakout year as he scored career bests in victories (two), podiums (seven) and finished an INDYCAR career best third in the championship standings.

Lundgaard said he recognizes areas where he still needs to improve but believes his performance in 2026 demonstrated he was ready for the opportunity.

“I only want to get better,” he said. “It’s not that I’m happy being where I am. I want to improve. I want to get better.”

The move also reunites Lundgaard with Honda after he spent his first three INDYCAR seasons with the manufacturer before moving to Chevrolet. Having now raced with both manufacturers, Lundgaard believes that experience gives him a better understanding of their respective strengths.

Asked about the biggest adjustment in returning to Honda, Lundgaard smiled.

“We’ll go faster,” he said.

Lundgaard will inherit more than Dixon’s car. He will work with the No. 9 crew, known internally as the “Wolfpack,” a group Lundgaard already knew for its performance on pit lane even if he had not heard its nickname.

“I’ve definitely heard about the consistency in people, not necessarily just on the nine crew, but also within Chip Ganassi,” Lundgaard said. “We’ve had people, what, 25, 30-plus years, and it’s not just a couple of them. It’s multiple.”

That stability is part of the appeal of Ganassi. So is the certainty that Lundgaard is joining an organization capable of winning immediately.

“You’re going to a place where you know they can win, they can perform, which is a situation and a place I want to be in,” Lundgaard said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Lundgaard also believes he can bring something different to a team that has spent years revolving around Dixon and Palou. He has worked with different drivers, engineers and organizations and believes those experiences can add another perspective to Ganassi.

“I’m bringing something completely different to the team, understanding different philosophies, but also just experience,” Lundgaard said.

He sees similarities between himself and Palou, particularly in their approach to racing and life away from the track. Lundgaard describes himself as someone who values simplicity and prefers focusing only on things he can control.

From afar, he has seen much the same in Palou.

“He just kind of lives his life by himself and shows up and wins,” Lundgaard said, “which is extremely frustrating.”

Now Lundgaard gets to see how Palou does it.

“I’m excited,” he said.

First, though, Lundgaard has some more basic work to do.

His offseason priorities include learning the organization, understanding which people handle which responsibilities and getting to know the engineers, mechanics and crew members who will surround him in the No. 9 program.

“Learn names, first of all,” Lundgaard said. “There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that needs to be figured out. Not just from driving the car, getting to know the people, the engineers, but the mechanics as well, the Wolfpack. It’s a big transition.”

It is one Lundgaard never expected to become available while Dixon was still racing.

Now that it has, he understands both the opportunity and the expectations attached to one of IndyCar’s most decorated cars.

“I never really imagined it was going to be a possibility with Scott because you never really knew how long he was going to continue,” Lundgaard said. “I get that feeling of, this is big shoes to fill, and it’s going to be tough. But at the end of the day, I also know what I’m capable of.”