[h=2]Ganassi 'taken aback' by Patrick Indy reaction[/h] Wednesday, 06 December 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Image by Logan Whitton/LAT



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Two things were made clear during NASCAR's season finale at Homestead: Danica Patrick wants to close her career next May at the Indy 500, and Chip Ganassi Racing looked like the most obvious candidate to facilitate that dream. Speaking with RACER on Wednesday, Ganassi wasn't ready to say it won't happen for her in his Honda-powered team, but don't be surprised if Patrick continues the search for a competitive IndyCar ride elsewhere in the paddock.

"I was a little taken aback by how much was made of it," Ganassi said of the reaction to his discussions with the former IndyCar star. "Folks would like to see a lot of things. First and foremost, things like that have to make business sense to all the parties. I don't want to discourage the idea, but I think it's a small percentage of something happening. There's nothing imminent."
CGR will run four-time Verizon IndyCar Series and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon and 2017 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Ed Jones in its downsized open-wheel effort next season. Plans to field a third driver for the Indy 500, barring the acknowledgement of talks with Patrick, have not been announced.