This will be Scott Dixon’s 25th season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and yet he was surprised Tuesday by a topic at the sport’s annual preseason Content Days in Indianapolis.

It was brought to Dixon’s attention that he will work with fellow motorsports legend Helio Castroneves in this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge as part of the first-year technical alliance between Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing.

Remarkably, Dixon said he has “never” had a strategic racing conversation with Castroneves despite the fact they have combined for 796 starts and 89 race wins in this series, plus years of sports car competition. Both are “500” winners.

“I’ve never actually thought about that,” said Dixon, insisting that he hadn’t yet started thinking about the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I’ve known Helio for 25 or more years with racing against him – no, never (working together) in any capacity, especially at Indy.

“It’s going to be exciting to see what (he does), how he works that race.”

Castroneves is aiming for a record-setting fifth “500” victory; Dixon will try to win his first in the event since taking the checkered flag for the first time in 2008. This could be the pairing that gets one of them over the hump in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

“It will be a lot of fun, I know that,” Dixon said. “It’s always a lot of fun just hanging with (Castroneves). I’m excited to see his insight (into) what’s made him so successful at the Speedway.

“I’ve heard stories, but …”

Like Castroneves, Felix Rosenqvist drives for Meyer Shank Racing, and the Swede said Tuesday that the alliance with Chip Ganassi’s team is real. Already this offseason, Rosenqvist said he has spent 30 percent of his work time in Ganassi’s Indianapolis shop talking with his new engineer, Ross Bunnell, a Ganassi employee. If this alliance works as MSR’s did with Andretti Global in recent years, the CGR drivers (Dixon, Alex Palou and Kyffin Simpson) will sit in engineering meetings during race events alongside those driving for MSR (Castroneves, Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong).

Which means: Two of the sport’s best will be sharing notes. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

O’Ward’s Busy Offseason

There have been 120 days since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES ended its 2024 season with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. Pato O’Ward has put the time to good use.

The Arrow McLaren driver estimated he has worked “probably 75 days” with McLaren Racing’s Formula One program, including traveling. The highlight of that activity was driving in the Mexico City Grand Prix’s Friday free practice during which he posted the 13th-quickest lap, a little more than three-tenths of a second off the time posted by full-time McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

O’Ward said his first day off following the Nashville race Sept. 15 was Dec. 20.

“It feels like a whole year’s worth (of work) happened in three months,” he said.

Herta Ready to Work

Colton Herta ended last season with six top-five finishes – with two wins – in the final seven NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. One of those wins was in the finale in Nashville, which doubled as the first oval win of his career.

Perhaps no one in the series has been more eager to get back to work than Herta, and Tuesday was the first day of it. He heads to Florida on Wednesday to work on the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where he will drive in LMP2 with Crowdstrike Racing by APR.

“It’s all I want to do; it’s all I want to do,” Herta said of driving a race car. “It’s really a shame we have to stop for winter.”

As crazy at it seems, Herta, who turns 25 in March, will make his 100th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Sunday, March 2. Other drivers positioned to reach the 100-race series milestone this season are Marcus Ericsson (97), Rosenqvist (96) and O’Ward (88).

Ericsson Bigger, Stronger

Ericsson said he has spent the offseason focused on improving his physique, adding 10 pounds of muscle, making him “stronger than I’ve ever been,” he said.

In a never-ending pursuit to improve his craft, Ericsson bought a more advanced simulator to use at home, which he has almost daily. The other one he had “has been collecting dust.”

“I’m stronger than I’ve ever been,” he said.

Also gaining weight during the offseason: Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel, a 20-year-old who said he has added 15 pounds for improved strength.

Ericsson didn’t have a good first year at Andretti Global, finishing 15th in the standings with only one top-three finish, second in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. But he said his history in the sport suggests he can make a big jump in this second season with the organization.

“Some drivers can just jump in anything and just be fast from the get-go, and that’s for sure a strength,” he said. “But for me, throughout my career … I need a year to get used to things, and then I can deliver.”

Odds and Ends

• Alexander Rossi said his move to Ed Carpenter Racing so far “has been nothing short of awesome.” He said the team that welcomed Ted Gelov, the owner of Heartland Food Products Group, as a new partner in September is changing at a rapid rate, “and that’s exciting.”
• David Malukas, who will drive AJ Foyt Racing’s No. 4 Chevrolet, said he found it difficult to be himself during first conversations with team owner and motorsports icon A.J. Foyt. The team’s new driver kept saying to himself, “Act normal, act normal … you’re not acting normal.”
• AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci said combining the team’s two cars in the same Indianapolis shop is “the next step” in the progress of the organization. Previously, the No. 14 Chevrolet was prepared in Foyt’s headquarters in Waller, Texas.
• Ohio State football fan Graham Rahal has his Buckeyes beating Notre Dame, 34-21, in Monday night’s National Championship Game in Atlanta.
• The NTT INDYCAR SERIES has two drivers who got married since the last race of 2024: Rosenqvist (to Emille Sutt) and Sting Ray Robb (to Molly Mitchell).
• Devlin DeFrancesco, who returns to the series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, is the latest driver to move to Indianapolis to be close to his race team, which is based in Zionsville, Indiana.
• Palou said his offseason has been “following” his 13-month-old daughter, Lucia, around the house, and he has been reading her a lot of children’s books. “Not Josef’s,” he joked, a reference to his cameo in Josef Newgarden’s FOX commercial.
• As for that commercial, Kyle Kirkwood said Palou was the star of the spot by saying he won’t read Newgarden’s book. Palou enjoyed that he got to speak in the commercial; Newgarden did not. Rossi said he “thought it was a Tom Brady commercial.” Rahal said this sport couldn’t get more validation from any other personality than Brady.
• Andretti Global has added Chili’s as a sponsor, and the team’s drivers have their favorite dishes. Kirkwood’s is the Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers; Herta’s is the Triple Dipper. Kirkwood, who will carry the restaurant’s colors in St. Petersburg, said Chili’s was a regular after-church stop for his family growing up.
• Rahal’s No. 15 Honda at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will be sponsored by the WWEX Group in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway and the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.