Chip Ganassi Racing has same championship approach with three cars still in the title hunt

Chip Ganassi Racing will enter Portland International Raceway this weekend with an NTT IndyCar Series championship outlook that is completely unprecedented and also totally familiar.

Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou remain within striking distance of points leader Will Power with two races remaining – the first time in Ganassi’s vaunted history that the organization has been this deep in the season with three title-eligible cars. Team Penske also has three title-eligible drivers (Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin) but for the second time in five years (Newgarden, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud duked it out in 2017).

While winning 14 championships (including six by Dixon) over the past 32 years, Ganassi has had dynamic duos of contenders (Alex Zanardi/Jimmy Vasser, Dixon/Dan Wheldon, Dixon/Dario Franchitti) yet never a trio gunning for the crown so far into the closing stretch.

INDYCAR AT PORTLAND: Schedules, how to watch on NBC, Peacock this weekend

It naturally prompts the question: Without being able to prioritize resources or staff toward just one or two entries (and while also fielding the No. 48 Dallara-Honda of Jimmie Johnson), how does preparing three championship-caliber cars impact the workload at Ganassi’s Indianapolis shop?

“It doesn’t,” Ganassi managing director Mike Hull told NBC Sports. “That’s not the case for us and never has been. It gets all the way back to the very beginning for me with Chip.”

Just two races remain in the NTT @INDYCAR SERIES season, and four drivers are separated by just 17 points!

We'll see you in Portland, Sept. 4 on @NBC and @peacockTV! pic.twitter.com/6gWZmB05io

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 21, 2022

Shortly after being hired by team owner Chip