Chip Ganassi

Chip Ganassi
Ganassi at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2015
Born	Floyd Ganassi Jr. (1958-05-24) May 24, 1958 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Chip Ganassi
Education	B.A. Finance
Alma mater	Duquesne University
Occupation(s)	Owner and CEO, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Years active	1990–present
Employer	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Website	ChipGanassiRacing.com

Floyd "Chip" Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) is a former American racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scene for over 30 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners ever. He is the only team owner in history to have won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and most recently the 24 Hours of Le Mans - six of the seven biggest races in the world.

He is currently the owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and Tudor United SportsCar Championship, World Endurance Championship and in Global Rally Cross. Overall, he runs 14 cars with 18 drivers across six different touring Series.

Racing driver

Ganassi attended the Bob Bondurant Driving School in 1977. He won his first auto race in a Formula Ford at the age of 18. He began his CART (Champ Car) racing career in 1982 upon graduating from Duquesne. Though a broken camshaft kept him from completing his first CART race at Phoenix, Ganassi qualified with the fastest speed, 197 mph, and competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, with a best finish of 8th in 1983. He was voted the Most Improved Driver in 1983, and took 9th position in the CART standing. During that season, he took Patrick Racing’s Wildcat onto the podium twice, the first at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, then again at Laguna Seca. The following season, he would go on and finish a career best second in to 1984 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland, however, his career was cut short in his next race, by a big crash that injured him at Michigan.

Although he returned to race briefly in CART and IMSA in 1986. It was in the 1986 Kodak Copies 500 at Watkins Glen that Ganassi scored his top sportscar result, taking the Camel Light class victory, with his race partner, Bob Earl (7th overall). He also recorded a seventh-place finish a month early in the Löwenbräu Classic, at Road America, assisted by David Sears. Both times driving for Spice Engineering, in one for their Spice-Pontiac SE86CL. In what was to be his last international race outing, Ganassi was entered into the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans, as a member of the Kouros Racing. One of his team mates for the event, Johnny Dumfries set the fastest lap of race prior to be handing the car over to Ganassi upon whom the gearbox broke.

Team owner

Ganassi and Lorin Ranier at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2014

Main article: Chip Ganassi Racing

1988-89 - Purchased an interest in Patrick Racing in 1988 – a team he had raced with before in 1983 and 1984 – the team saw Emerson Fittipaldi win the 1989 Indianapolis 500 and CART PPG Indy Car World Series.

1990 - Formed his own CART team, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) with Target as the primary sponsor and with Eddie Cheever behind the wheel.

1994 – Wins team’s first race with Michael Andretti behind the wheel in Australia.

1996 - Hired two new drivers, a young promising American driver, Jimmy Vasser and relatively unknown Italian, Alessandro Zanardi.[3] Vassar would go on to win Ganassi’s first title after winning four of the Opening six races of the 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series season,

1997-98 – Zanardi brings home Ganassi’s second and third consecutive championships.

1999 - Juan Pablo Montoya, who won in only his third CART start would add six more victories as he claimed the 1999 CART title, CGR’s fourth consecutive championship.[3][4]

2000 - Montoya wins the team’s first Indianapolis 500, and Ganassi’s second as team owner.[3]

2001 – Ganassi launched his first NASCAR team with partner Felix Sabates and Sterling Marlin drove his Dodge Intrepid to victory lane at Michigan and Charlotte, then led the championship for most in 2002 before suffering a season-ending injury.

2003 – Wins IndyCar Series with a young Kiwi Scott Dixon, after he scored three wins.

2004 - Ganassi and Sabates entered Rolex Sports Car Series with a Daytona Prototype for Scott Pruett and Max Papis, who stormed to the title.

2006 – Ganassi wins the first of his record six Rolex 24 at Daytonas with drivers Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon and Casey Mears. Defending IndyCar Series champion, Dan Wheldon joins Dixon on the team. By mid-season, Ganassi pulled another shocker, he announced the return of Montoya, to spearhead the NASCAR program beginning in 2007.

2007 - Montoya joined Pruett and Salvador Durán to retain the Rolex 24 at Daytona crown, and won his first NASCAR event in the XFINITY race in Mexico City.[3]

2008 - Hired 2007 IndyCar champion, Dario Franchitti for the ’08 campaign, however, the Scotsman was signed to join Montoya in NASCAR. Franchitti would form part of CGR’s third Rolex 24 at Daytona win, alongside Pruett, Montoya and Memo Rojas,

2009 – Franchitti switched back to the IndyCar Series for ’09, leading the team to a one-two finish in the end of year standings, after he and Dixon took five wins apiece.

2010 - McMurray wins the Daytona 500 and a few months later, Franchitti wins the Indianapolis 500, making Ganassi the first owner to win both races in the same year and joining Roger Penske as the only owners to win both races. McMurray would go on to win the Brickyard 400, making Ganassi the first owner to win the "Triple Crown" of American auto racing. Pruett and Rojas reeled off nine wins in a dozen starts in Grand-Am, and claimed a fourth title. The Ganassi organization scored another “double" when McMurray won at Charlotte just hours before Franchitti’s victory in the IndyCar finale at Homestead to clinch the team’s eighth indyCar Series title. It was Ganassi’s most successful season, with two titles, victories in Daytona and Indianapolis, and a total of 19 wins across IndyCar, NASCAR and sport cars

2011 - Rolex Sports Car Series team won the fourth 24 Hours at Daytona, making Ganassi the first owner ever to win the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400, and the 24 Hours at Daytona inside a 12 months period. Ganassi becomes the first owner to hold all four titles at one time. By the end of the year, CGR had retained both the IndyCar Series and Grand-Am titles.

2012 - Pruett and Rojas scored their third-straight Grand-Am title (CGR’s sixth overall), while Franchitti added another Indy 500 title. 2012 also saw Chip being named by Complex Magazine as one of the “50 most influential people in the Auto Industry”.

2013 - Would see the team’s fifth Rolex 24 win. Dixon would go on to win his third title. Kyle Larson wins the NASCAR XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year.

2014 – Promotes Larson to the No. 42 Target Chevrolet. Ganassi also wins the 12 Hours of Sebring in his first attempt. He was awarded the inaugural Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for his contributions to motorsports by the NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Watkins Glen International.[3][14][15]

2015 – McMurray, Larson, Tony Kanaan and Dixon win the team’s sixth Rolex 24 at Daytona. Dixon wins his fourth IndyCar Series Championship.[16]

Personal life

Ganassi was formerly a vice president of FRG Group, his father's organization involved in commercial real estate, transportation and other areas. In addition to his racing interests, he is also a former minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball team. Ganassi is a strong supporter of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, to which his teams have donated over US$500,000.

He graduated with a degree in finance from Duquesne University in 1982. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011.

He currently resides in the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania.

Racing record

Career highlights

Season	Series	Position	Team	Car
1981	Robert Bosch Formula Super Vee Championship	6th		March-Volkswagen 79/80SV Ralt-Volkswagen RT5
1981-82	USAC Gold Crown Series	37th	First Commercial Corp.	Wildcat-Cosworth
1982	PPG Indy Car World Series	34th	Rhoades Racing	Wildcat-Cosworth
1982-83	USAC Gold Crown Series	16th	Patrick Racing	Wildcat-Cosworth
1983	PPG Indy Car World Series	9th	Patrick Racing	Wildcat-Cosworth
1983-84	USAC Gold Crown Series	32nd	Patrick Racing	March-Cosworth 84C
1984	PPG Indy Car World Series	20th	Patrick Racing	Wildcat-Cosworth March-Cosworth 84C
1986	IMSA Camel Light Championship	35th	Spice Engineering	Spice-Pontiac SE86CL

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1981	Brayton Racing	PHX1	MIL1	ATL1	ATL2	MIS	RIV	MIL2	MIS2	WGL	MEX	PHX2 DNQ							NC	-
1982	Rhoades Racing	PHX1 Ret	ATL	MIL1	CLE Ret	MIS1 Ret	MIL2	POC Ret	RIV	ROA	MIS2 16	PHX2							34th	10
1983	Patrick Racing	ATL	INDY 8	MIL	CLE Ret	MIS1 8	ROA Ret	POC Ret	RIV	MDO Ret	MIS2 6	LVG 3	LS 3	PHX 5					9th	56
1984	Patrick Racing	LBH Ret	PHX1 11	INDY Ret	MIL 11	POR Ret	MEA 9	CLE 2	MIS1 Ret	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX2	LS	LVG		20th	24
1985	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE												51st	0
	Machinists Union Racing							MIS1 Ret	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	LS	PHX	MIA
1986	Machinists Union Racing	PHX1 14	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS1	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	ROA	LS	PHX2	MIA	43rd	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1982	12	11	197.705	13	15	147	0	Engine
1983	60	16	197.608	24	8	195	0	Running
1984	40	22	201.612	28	28	61	0	Engine
1985	84	25	206.104	25	22	121	0	Fuel Line
1986	31	26	207.590	31	29	70	0	Head Gasket
Totals						594	0

Starts	5
Poles	0
Front Row	0
Wins	0
Top 5	0
Top 10	1
Retired	4

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1987	Kouros Racing	Johnny Dumfries Mike Thackwell	Sauber-Mercedes C9	C1	37	DNF (Gearbox)

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1986	RC Buick Hawk/Conte	John Paul, Jr. Ivan Capelli Whitney Ganz	March-Buick 85G	GTP	310	DNF (Engine)

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1980	I.M.C. Toyota	Emmanuel Remion José Close	Toyota Corolla GT	ser.T1.6		DNQ

External links

• Chip Ganassi driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Chip Ganassi owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Chip Ganassi Racing
• Owner Ganassi gets past financial difficulties