Daytona International Speedway will be a prime warmup spot for the NTT IndyCar Series at Chip Ganassi Racing, which will have all of its drivers moonlighting in the 2022 Rolex 24.
Ganassi announced the lineups for its two Cadillacs in the Rolex 24, and three of the team’s IndyCar drivers will be joining previously announced full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn in the field.
Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and defending series champ Alex Palou will be in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R with Bourdais and van der Zande.
Marcus Ericsson, a two-time IndyCar winner last season for Ganassi, will be in the No. 02 with Bamber and Lynn. The car also will feature the return to Ganassi of Kevin Magnussen, who raced full time in IMSA DPi with van der Zande last season.
“Our Cadillac drivers lead by example,” Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull said in a release. “Each have already won on the world stage. They unselfishly mirror each other’s performance on and off track. Their equal experience combined with skillset is driven through zero agenda.
“In today’s world of equal performance standards, the driver’s contribution is the ultimate separator. Our roster has eight of the very best in equal Cadillacs. Bamber, Bourdais, Ericsson, Dixon, Lynn, Magnussen and van der Zande -- this group drives as one.”
🚨 Driver Announcement 🚨
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) January 7, 2022
We're please to announce an all-star lineup of full-time drivers for the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar DPi Championship, and our Rolex 24 lineup! 🏎️ 🏁 @Cadillac // @CadillacVPerfo1 // @IMSA pic.twitter.com/OvkUAsowz2
Jimmie Johnson, Ganassi’s fourth full-time driver in IndyCar, also will be racing the Rolex 24 in the No. 48 Ally Action Express Cadillac for the second consecutive year.
With testing heavily limited during the IndyCar offseason, the Rolex 24 will offer a chance to knock off the rust off in a high-downforce car ahead of the IndyCar season opener Feb. 27 on the streets of St. Petersburg.
After becoming IndyCar’s first Spanish champion, Palou will be making his IMSA debut after testing at Daytona last month. Ericsson also will be making his first IMSA start.
Dixon, who is entering his 22nd season with Ganassi, is a three-time Rolex 24 overall winner (in 2006 and ’15 with Ganassi and ’20 with Wayne Taylor Racing) making his 19th consecutive start in the Daytona season opener.