Dixon, Ganassi Bring Back “Lightning Bolt” Livery for 2016 IndyCar Season
Story By:Target Chip Ganassi Media Photos By: Chris Jones/INDYcar Series Photo
Indianapolis Ind….Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced Tuesday the return of the team’s classic “Lightning Bolt” livery to the No. 9 Target Chevrolet driven by four-time and reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon for the 2016 season.
The Target Lightning Bolt livery debuted in 1995 at the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with drivers Jimmy Vasser and Bryan Herta, and ran through the 2001 season-finale at California Speedway with drivers Bruno Junqueira and Memo Gidley. The livery reached a fever pitch in the mid-1990s when drivers Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997-1998) and Juan Pablo Montoya (1999) accomplished the first-ever four-peat in Indy car racing history by winning four-consecutive Championships.
Shortly after, Montoya put the Lightning Bolt livery in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 for Target’s first win in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. To commemorate Montoya’s return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Target, the paint scheme also made a one-off return in 2009 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400.
“Heading into such an historic season with the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the Lightning Bolt paint scheme taps into some of the most memorable times in Target’s longstanding partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Steve Lauletta, president, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. “Scott Dixon will be carrying a big part of history with him in the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season, not only as the four-time and defending champion for Team Target, but with the livery of past Target champions such as Vasser, Zanardi and Montoya from a very special era in Target’s racing history.”
Dixon returns to TCGR seeking his fifth championship in the No. 9 Target Chevrolet in his 16th season with TCGR – the longest tenure for a driver in team history. Dixon, the series’ active leader in wins, is fifth on the all-time Indy car wins list with 38 after posting three victories and winning his fourth Championship in 2016. TCGR is an 11-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion team with 99 victories, 85 pole positions and four wins in the Indianapolis 500. The team will celebrate its 27th year of partnership with Target in 2016.
