Honda pursing Ganassi, Chevy Foyti (6th Update)
10/11/16 UPDATE Andretti is staying with Honda. The rumor is Foyt will switch his 2-car team to Chevy, which means Schmidt Peterson will also have to switch its 2-car team to Chevy in order to maintain an equal number of cars for Chevy and Honda in 2017. If not Honda will be supplying 4 more cars than Chevy next year. See our updated 2017 Silly Season page.
10/07/16 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today with the announcement that the Ganassi team will switch to Honda in 2017. No word whether the Andretti team is switching back to Chevy or not.
10/06/16 So now Andretti Autosport has hired 2 engineers that have been on Chevrolets for at least 2 years, the latest being Jeremy Milless who will engineer Alexander Rossi's car. Does this mean the Andretti team will switch to the Chevrolet and Ganassi will switch back to Honda? Both are 4-car teams and that would keep the engine split between Honda and Chevy at 50/50.
10/05/16
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| Dixon thinks it will be better for the sport is the Ganassi and Penske teams had different engines |
AR1.com spoke with Scott Dixon last night at the IndyCar banquet about the rumor that Ganassi Racing would be switching to Honda power in 2017. Dixon, the 2015 series champion replied, "I don't really know anything about that. I thought that deal would have been done by now. I feel that the engines manufacturers are both equally competitive now. But I do think that the Penske and Ganassi teams should have different engines to keep the series competitive and interesting."
09/30/16 Honda Performance Development president Art St. Cyr told Motorsport.com that the company has not yet tied down which IndyCar teams will be Honda-powered next year, thus fueling conjecture that Ganassi may partner with HPD.
Asked if there was a possibility that Ganassi’s team, whose drivers have won a remarkable 11 Indy car championships over the past 21 years, could return to HPD power, St. Cyr told Motorsport.com: "We are always looking at how we improve our overall competitiveness on the track.
"The fundamental goal is, ‘How do we win more races?’ And if one team or a different team is going to help us do that, then of course we will look at it.
"That doesn’t necessarily mean anything is imminent or even in the works. But we would be remiss to not look at potential opportunities to make our entire stable better."
09/04/16 RACER is rumoring that American Honda/Honda Performance Development is seriously pursuing Ganassi for 2017. They are also rumoring that Andretti Autosport is pursuing Josef Newgarden to form an all-American 4-car team.
"We would be remiss if we neglected to explore any option which could strengthen our program in either the short or longer term," said Art St. Cyr, president of HPD. "This is the time of year when we are talking to all the teams in the paddock, but that doesn't necessarily mean that anything is imminent."
When asked on Sunday if he would be open to switching back to Honda, Ganassi sarcastically replied: "Yeah, and I'm switching to Toyota in NASCAR too. I have no idea where this stuff starts."