IndyCar and its now-lesser-light NASCAR come to Indianapolis this weekend for their annual doubleheader on the road course, and so I guess it's time to address the bizarre family feud that's happening right now in the former.
What's happening is, Chip Ganassi Racing is suing Alex Palou, who won the IndyCar title for CGR last season, his first with the team.
The reason CGR is suing Palou is because it really likes the guy and wants him to keep driving for it.
If this sounds weird to you, well, it isn't really. It seems Palou announced he was jumping to McLaren in 2023, and McLaren confirmed it. Except ...
Except, um, Palou apparently is still under contract to drive for Ganassi in 2023. Oops.
McLaren's people claim they knew nothing about this, and that Palou's people informed them he was a free agent. This might or might not be entirely true, but it gets McLaren off the hook for poaching another team's driver.
Ditto Palou, who apparently honestly thought he was a free agent. It's uncertain, other than the obvious (money), why he was so eager to jump to McLaren from CGR, one of the top two teams in IndyCar. But it seems that's the case.
Anyhoo ...
It's in the hands of the lawyers now. And if CGR wins, it gets a driver who thought he was leaving, and will still be there only because the court ordered him to be. This would make for some, ah, interesting team chemistry next summer, to say the least.
Hope Chip has his diplomacy skills all buffed up.
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