INDIANAPOLIS — On Wednesday, Chip Ganassi Racing filed a civil lawsuit against their driver Alex Palou in Marion County Superior Court.
According to court documents, Chip Ganassi Racing filed a motion of expedited discovery, which would allow Ganassi access to documents from Palou as well as McLaren Indy, LLC and McLaren Racing related to their ongoing contract dispute.
As part of the lawsuit, Ganassi has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, which states they’d like the case to be heard before a judge before the end of August.
Ganassi has also filed to seal all public records related to the case.
Earlier this month, Ganassi announced they had exercised their open to extend Palou’s contract through the end of 2023. However, Palou subsequently announced he would not return to the team in 2023. It was then announced by McLaren Racing that Palou had signed with them for 2023.
Both teams are sticking by their claim to the younger driver who won the NTT IndyCar Series season championship in 2021.
“Alex Palou is under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing through the end of the 2023 season,” said Chip Ganassi Racing in a statement. “He is a valued member of our team, and we will continue to support him in chasing wins podiums, and IndyCar championships. As the result of a competing racing team improperly attempting to contract with him notwithstanding the clear terms of our contract, we are proceeding to legal process pursuant to the contract.”
