When Marcus Ericsson joined Chip Ganassi Racing four years ago, the Swedish driver wasn’t focused on the history of one of IndyCar’s two premier programs, but on the excitement of a completely blank slate.

In signing Ericsson off his relatively meager rookie campaign – 17^th in points with one podium, three top-10s and only nine top-15s in 16 starts – CGR was dropping the Swedish driver into a brand-new entry, assembled largely by folks absorbed by Ganassi dropping its sportscar program that same offseason. What started slowly in 2020 turned into a breakthrough 2021 (Ericsson’s first two wins), a historic 2022 (Ganassi’s first 500 win in a decade) and a 2023 that, early-on, appeared to have all the makings of a serious title push.

And in 18 days, this project will have run its course.

After months of a persistent, engaged, one-sided courtship from Michael Andretti and Dan Towriss while their target waited out an exclusivity clause in his CGR contract, the co-owners of Andretti Autosport have added 500-winning pedigree back to their lineup, signing Ericsson to a deal that begins with the 2024 IndyCar season, both sides told IndyStar.

From May: Marcus Ericsson awaits Ganassi's decision on contract

Ericsson’s car number and primary sponsor are unclear but Ericsson has finally landed at a home that recognizes his worth and was willing to back it up with their checkbook. The Swedish driver will receive a sizeable salary bump, as well as the ability to take his name off the list of drivers required to bring budget for their seat – an incredibly rare ask for perennial title contenders and 500 race-winners nowadays that he’d been forced to fill while at Ganassi.

What’s more, Ericsson detailed to IndyStar in an exclusive interview, is the promise of another dive into the unknown that, if executed on, could deliver similar – if not better – results than those the 32-year-old produced in the No. 8 Honda. In Andretti Autosport, Ericsson joins a team best known this season for its raw, single-lap road and street course pace that has delivered five poles. It’s also one that has only won twice, left with a half-dozen what ifs that range from wrecks near the front, accidents not of their own doing and pitlane and strategy mishaps that teams finishing the season near the front simply don’t make.

In Ericsson, Andretti receives one of the series’ most prolific and reliable top-10 finishers who in recent years has rarely put a car wrong, who has quietly improved his qualifying average from 12^th-best among full-timers in 2022 to 8^th this season and who the last two years has starred on IndyCar’s biggest stage while Andretti’s been largely invisible. Put that all together, Ericsson said, and you have a pairing that largely complements each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Over the last couple years, I think (race craft) has been my trademark. I bring the car home most of the time – usually in the top-10 – and I think that consistency is important and something I aim to bring over to Andretti,” Ericsson told IndyStar. “Being in the mix every single weekend and taking what’s there, that’s something I learned from the master at that, Scott Dixon. He hasn’t had a pole outside the 500 since 2016.

“When you see how fast (Andretti’s) qualifying cars are, I think that can be a good match for me. You give me a very good qualifying car with my race craft, I see a lot of potential in that.”

So too does Andretti. It’s a major reason why Ericsson told reporters back in May that his phone had been “quite busy” while he was unable to negotiate outside Ganassi. Andretti and Towriss were constants, persistent in their pursuit of a driver they had long targeted to position alongside Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and a driver to be named.

“We’ve been impressed with how quickly (Ericsson) has proved he belonged with the frontrunners in what is arguably the most competitive IndyCar field ever,” Andretti said. “It’s no secret that we want to win races and championships, and to do that, we need drivers like Marcus who have that natural talent and determined drive.

“We’re excited for the winning mindset that Marcus brings to the table, and I’m eager to see what next season has in store for us.”

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That energy and exuberance Andretti and Towriss have shown for Ericsson from afar for months, and they way they lived up to it once the two sides could sit down at the bargaining table was a stark contrast to the relative indifference Ericsson was shown by his home of four years.

In the days after his 2022 500 victory, Ericsson made light of his ‘pay driver’ status that had followed him from his five seasons in Formula 1 into IndyCar. Backed for years by Swedish billionaire Finn Rausing, Ericsson landed his ride at Ganassi in 2020 in many ways because he could supply the budget necessary to run the car. And as so many drivers know, Ganassi in recent years has rarely – if ever – been interested in graduating drivers who, in the simplest terms, pay him to drive, to the club of the No. 9 and 10-car drivers who have historically been paid to drive.

Even after delivering CGR its first 500 victory in a decade and a stretch of four wins and seven podiums in 28 starts (from Detroit in 2021 to St. Pete in 2023), Ganassi refused to budge from those principles when it came to Ericsson. During a Fast Friday press conference, Ganassi told reporters, “I want (Ericsson) to stay. I’m working hard to do it. We just need to finalize his sponsorship, and away we go.”

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With Ganassi going to the lengths of organizing a meeting in Europe to try and persuade Ericsson’s backers to continue some version of status quo moving forward, Ericsson gave the impression to reporters in the next two months of a driver left largely in the dark as to his team’s intentions as that ever-important Aug. 1 date drew nearer. Consistently asked each race weekend whether any significant progress was being made, Ericsson would do his best to force a grin to pair with a drawn out version of ‘no.’

“We’re quite a ways apart,” he told NBC Sports at Road America in mid-June. “At least 15 drivers don’t bring budget (in IndyCar), and I would like to think I’m deserving to be one of those.

“But the team thinks otherwise. I tried to play nice, but I don’t understand it, and it’s frustrating.”

Not until the start of the Nashville race weekend Aug. 4 did the driver hint there was finally some legitimate movement that made staying put “still a strong option.” That it didn't come at any time in the last 14 months since he'd won the 500, though, was notable.

Wanting to still prioritize the potential of his final three weekends at CGR, Ericsson declined to dive too deep into the role CGR’s drawn-out attempt to keep him played, combined with what appears to have been an under-the-radar full-court-press in finances and other resources to win back the favor of Ericsson’s Ganassi teammate Alex Palou. The Spaniard once looked primed to jet for Arrow McLaren at the end of this season, but in recent weeks, Palou appears to have had a change of heart, seemingly planning now to stay put in his No. 10 Honda, despite the threat of a second series of lawsuits in 13 months for yet another alleged contract he’s tossed aside. Though unclear, it's not unreasonable to wonder whether Ganassi's apparent successful holdout in hopes of swaying Palou not only remained the team's priority, however much of a longshot it appeared at times, but that it also may have taken the resources that could've been required to convince CGR's last 500 winner since Dario Franchitti to stay put.

“The bottom line for me is that Michael and Dan have shown for a very long time that they really wanted me and believe in me. Even though I’d been unable to talk to them (until the start of this month), they’d made it very clear they wanted me on their team. That played a big part in this,” Ericsson said. “I would lie if I said this was easy. When you take into account everything we achieved together at Ganassi and the relationships I built up there and those special bonds, that makes it tough.

“But you have to put all the plusses and minuses together and look at the big picture of it all and what you want for your future and where you see yourself. It’s always tough when you change things like this, and it’s never fun, but I think all of us have been in this sport long enough to know how this works. There’s no hard feelings with (the team) or Chip or anyone. I think everyone understands how this works. I’m very thankful for what we accomplished and the opportunity I had to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Marcus Ericsson signs with Andretti, leaving Ganassi after 2023