Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

Chip Ganassi Racing’s investment in junior series in America kicked off this offseason with the addition of an Indy NXT program employing drivers Jonathan Browne and Niels Koolen.

That investment will go further now that Chip Ganassi have announced a driver development program in partnership with Kiwi Motorsport, who co-operates one of America’s most dominant junior formula teams in both Formula Regional Americas the country’s Formula 4 championship.

Additionally, the team has partnered with Palou Motorsport, a team started by Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar driver Alex Palou and his father in 2023 which competes in Eurocup-3, a single-seater junior series based in Europe. More partner teams will be announced in the future.

A distributed press release stated the partnership will allow Chip Ganassi Racing to further evaluate drivers who are competing for their partner teams and give them the chance to utilize the team’s facilities and simulators for a wide variety of training purposes.

“To become successful at the highest level starts with a disciplined structure,” Mike Hull, the managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing, said. “The creation of the separation mindset starts away from the race track which feeds the on-track choices. Finding the best functional race team avenues speeds career development. Mentoring within the CGR ethic feeds on-going growth.”

If any junior series team in America is worth Chip Ganassi Racing’s investment, Kiwi Motorsports has to be near the top of the list. In partnership with Crosslink Competition under the name Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, they’ve won a staggering eight constructors titles since 2017 across the two levels of junior series formula racing affiliated with the FIA.

The organization has picked up six Formula 4 United States team titles and two more in the Formula Regional Americas Championship. Additionally, in the developmental Ligier JS F4 Series that feeds drivers into Formula 4 US that kicked off this year, the team won the inaugural title there too.

Their prominent former drivers in recent years include Dakota Dickerson, who drove in IMSA through 2023, and Callum Hedge, one of the top rookies in Indy NXT last season.

Additionally, the team’s roots in New Zealand are highlighted by their active participation in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series. The team finished third place in the driver’s standings this year with Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth, who could be Kiwi Motorsport’s next star after winning both the Formula 4 United States and Formula Regional Americas driver’s titles in back to back seasons.

In a statement, Kiwi’s co-owners Garry Orton and Teena Larsen stated how excited they were to be in partnership with a team as prestigious as Chip Ganassi Racing.

“Kiwi Motorsport is thrilled to partner with CGR and be involved with the development program. Kiwi Motorsport, like CGR, has been a dominant team in the series it competes in, running Formula 4 in the United States and Formula Regional Series in United States, Macau and New Zealand. It is our team’s aim to help find the next INDYCAR champion.”

At the Circuit of the Americas last weekend, Crosslink Kiwi’s cars drove around with Chip Ganassi stickers on their nose as the team capped off their championship runs. Heading into 2025 with new support from an IndyCar side, expect them to continue their dominance at the lower levels of American open-wheel racing.