Ganassi seeks right fit to replace Dixon in coveted No. 9 seat

INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first time in nearly a quarter-century, Chip Ganassi Racing is facing a question it hasn’t had to answer since 2002: Who should drive the No. 9?

Scott Dixon has left after more than two decades driving the No. 9 in a career that spanned six INDYCAR championships and 52 victories with Chip Ganassi Racing, With a seat open for the first time in more than two decades, Ganassi must replace the longtime leader of an organization that has largely been shaped by his presence.

There has been no shortage of interest as Ganassi’s phone started ringing as soon as word spread that Dixon was leaving.

 “You’d like to be able to say yes just to everybody that calls, because we’ve had some interesting calls from not only drivers that are in the series, but drivers that are outside the series, and some pretty famous drivers at that, I might add,” the team owner said.

Ganassi said the philosophy behind the search is one he learned from longtime engineer Mo Nunn.

“Morris said you always have to take the best driver that’s available, and so that’s what we kind of try to live by,” Ganassi said.

But defining the “best” driver is more complicated when the assignment is replacing Dixon.

Ganassi can list the champions who have driven for his organization -- Dixon, Alex Palou, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya. Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser -- but he isn’t necessarily looking for a replica of any of them.

“I don’t want somebody to be another person,” Ganassi said. “I want someone to be their own person.”

What Ganassi does want is a driver willing to embrace the way his team operates.

“We think we bring something to the party as a team that we can teach these drivers,” Ganassi said. “So somebody that’s got an open mind, somebody that’s not an old dog that doesn’t want to learn new tricks, somebody that wants to be a good teammate.”

Ganassi emphasized the collaborative nature of the organization, where drivers and engineers openly share information after sessions.

“We’re an open book around here, so they have to be open book with their teammates,” he said. “They’re all over in the engineering trailer, all in one room, talking after each session. So that’s a little switch-up sometimes for some drivers.”

Then Ganassi boiled the job description down even further.

“I just look for somebody with some heart,” he said. “We can teach them a lot of things, I think, as a team. I want somebody that’s got an open mind and someone that’s fast and not afraid to learn new tricks.”

The expectations that come with the No. 9 are considerable.

Dixon has been the standard-bearer at Ganassi for most of his career. Ganassi described him as “the leader of this team for a long, long, long time” and pointed to Dixon’s share of the organization’s victories as evidence of his impact.

But the relationship extends well beyond the statistics.

When Dixon joined Ganassi, he was a quiet young driver who, as Ganassi remembers it, rarely offered more than a yes-or-no answer. Ganassi watched him grow not only into one of INDYCAR’s most accomplished drivers but also into a husband, father, mentor and teammate.

“We’ve seen him develop from a young man to adulthood,” Ganassi said. “It’s just been a great thing to be a part of that for such a long time, and then to enjoy the success that he has along the way.”

Whoever takes the No. 9 will enter a team that already has Palou as its benchmark and Kyffin Simpson as a developing young driver. Ganassi acknowledged that an ideal replacement would be capable of challenging Palou while also helping Simpson — all while stepping into Dixon’s role.

That may be an unrealistic job description.

“That’s a tall order to fill Scott Dixon’s shoes and push Palou and teach Kyffin,” Ganassi said. “If you could fill those three boxes, if you could check those three boxes, you’d really have somebody there.”

The early interest in the vacancy extended beyond the obvious candidates.

Asked who the most interesting person was to inquire about the ride, Ganassi offered one detail but declined to identify the driver.

“It was a woman, actually,” he said. “So a female race car driver. I don’t want to name any names, but it was a woman.”

For Ganassi, the search also fits into something larger he has tried to build during his decades as a team owner.

He remains close with many of the champions who have passed through his organization, a group that includes Zanardi, Vasser, Montoya, Franchitti and Dixon. Ganassi described it as a “fraternity” and said those relationships are among the most rewarding parts of his career.

“I always just wanted to have a team that drivers would want to drive for,” Ganassi said. “Hopefully we’ve accomplished that, and we can continue to.”

Judging by the calls coming in for the No. 9, Ganassi shouldn’t have much trouble finding drivers who want the opportunity.

Finding the one who can follow Dixon is the harder part.