Full- time sponsor still eludes Dixon

The car was a white blur as it streaked across the track in front of the pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Was that Scott Dixon?” someone in the media room asked rhetorically. “Boy, that’s strange.”

Dixon, one of the most- decorated drivers in the Verizon IndyCar Series, showed up at IMS for testing recently with the least decorated car in the paddock.

His all white, decal- free car was another reminder that he and his Chip Ganassi Racing team have been unable to secure a full- time sponsor since Target pulled out last year after a more than 25- year partnership.

Now in Long Beach for the second race of the 2017 season, the four- time IndyCar champion is flying the blue and white colors of NTT Data, but that’s just a temporary fix. NTT Data has committed to the 36- year- old New Zealand native for only a few races, as the Japanese company already is a full- time sponsor of Dixon’s teammate Tony Kanaan.

“Frustrated probably isn’t the right word,” Dixon said of his situation Friday. “It’s not such an easy thing. You have to find something that fits. … Target was with me for 16 years, and they were the best sponsor anybody could hope for. A lot of great partnerships, and I met a lot of great people — a lot of great friends that I will have forever. So that’s the benchmark. That’s the hard part, trying to find someone to fill their place.”

The search for that so- far elusive perfect fit has entered its eighth month. Ganassi, though, seemed as unconcerned Friday in Long Beach as he did in July when Target announced it was dropping out of IndyCar.

Ganassi told USA TODAY Sports not to worry about his team then, and that was the same message he delivered Friday.

“We’re not quite where we want to be, but we’re damn close,” Ganassi said. “We have a couple things we’re working on that are more long term, so I’m optimistic.”

Ganassi, though, didn’t specify what those “things we’re working on” were and added that there is no timeline for anything to be completed. The longtime team owner explained that the challenge has not been finding sponsors willing to jump on board full time, but finding the right sponsor to fit someone of Dixon’s caliber.

“We could sell Dixon, but we don’t want to give him away,” Ganassi said of the 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion. “That’s a little bit of the challenge. But we’re fine. The team is fine. I have great partners who are already involved in the car, and they stepped up like good partners. They saw that we were challenged a bit, and they said, ‘ Hey, what can we do to help?’ And you’ll see more of that rolling out in the next couple of weeks.”

Dixon isn’t the only IndyCar driver to experience sponsorship issues recently. Marco Andretti was forced to find a new partner, United Fiber & Data, due to the financial woes of HHGregg. But that partnership, too, is only for a select number of races.

There were rumors that perhaps Ganassi was in talks with Amazon to grace Dixon’s car as its primary sponsor, but Dixon said that’s all they were, rumors.

“I’m not really sure where ( those rumors) came from,” Dixon said. “That would be a great deal, but internally, I’m not sure that ever was a thing.”

Ganassi said sponsorship isn’t really something Dixon needs to focus on now. A partnership will develop in due time, he said.

“Scott’s job is to drive the car and be up at the front. He doesn’t worry about this kind of thing,” Ganassi said. “He wants to know that we’re solid and that he’s getting paid. And the answer ( to both) is yes.”