FANTASY NASCAR Racin

FLOYD "CHIP" GANASSI - 5/24/1958 -
CHIP GANASSI RACING with FELIX SABATES or simply Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Monster Energy Cup and Xfinity Series', the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 1989, Chip Ganassi, who had driven in the IndyCar World Series but had his career cut short due to a career-ending crash at Michigan in 1984, joined Pat Patrick as co-owner for Emerson Fittipaldi's Marlboro IndyCar team. Patrick had announced he was going to retire at the end of the year, and the team would go completely to Ganassi. The team won the Indy 500 and the IndyCar Championship. In 2001, Ganassi bought a 80% stake in Sabates' Team SABCO NASCAR team, marking his entry into that championship series, while later moving his CART team to the rival Indy Racing League (now Verizon IndyCar Series) and competing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Longtime Ganassi sponsor Target joined the NASCAR team as a primary sponsor in 2002 with Jimmy Spencer driving in the car. Sterling Marlin was his team

mate with Coors Light on the hood. After winning two races in 2001; Marlin again won two events in 2002. Spencer again went win-less while Jamie McMurray ran only six races and won once. 2003 saw McMurray replace Spencer full time; and Casey Mears was brought on to add a third team. The three teams didn't fare was as none of the drivers won, and as a group they only posted five Top 5's (all by McMurray). The same three drivers would remain with Ganassi Racing in 2004 and 2005; but results

were just as bad. No wins in either year. By 2007 Ganassi had cleaned house. Gone were all three drivers; and the drivers taking their place were Reed Sorenson, David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya won at the road course at Sonoma giving Ganassi his first win since 2002. The Ganassi Organization dropped back to a two car team in 2008. Stremme was released, while the third car ran selected races with various drivers. Once again the teams did not visit victory lane. From 2009 – 2013 the Ganassi race team partnered with Teresa Earnhardt to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. (See above "Earnhardt Ganassi Racing") During that period the owners only posted five

total wins. Three by McMurray and two by Montoya. In 2014 Ganassi and Sabates split with Earnhardt and went back out on their own. Jamie McMurray has been a mainstay for many years, and in 2014 they added the new racing phenom Kyle Larson to their stable. Although neither driver posted a win, the rookie Larson finished second on three occasions; posted eight Top 5 finishes, and 17 Top 10s, while McMurray finished in the Top 5 seven times. McMurray showed signs of momentum at the end of the season and the duo looked to be top campaigners when the 2015 season opened. But it was not to be, as the pair only was able to post six Top 5 finishes between them. The following year showed some improvement as Larson was able to pick up his first career

Cup win. It would be the first time that the team had won since 2007. Larson also finished ninth in the points. McMurray didn't get a win, but was more competitive than the previous season. 2014 proved to be a break-out year from Larson. After finishing second so many time in the previous two season; he claimed four checkered flags and easily qualified for the Chase. He also had 15 Top 5 finishes. He had ran so well, most people thought the Championship would come down to him and Martin Truex. But crashes or motor failures the latter part of the Chase would doom him and he would finish eighth in points. McMurray had a horrible season only posting three Top 5 finishes and finishing 23rd in points. For 2018, both drivers look to be returning to the team. Ganassi also fielded cars in the Xfinity series from 2001 to now. His results have

been disappointing as only Marlin has been able to post a top five finish in the points. Besides his NASCAR involvement; Ganassi has been a power player in the Indy Car and Grand Am series. Since Chip had been injured and couldn't drive any more; he moved into an ownership role. Ganassi officially took over the remaining assets of the Pat Patrick's race team (including the 1989 Penske chassis), and renamed it Chip Ganassi Racing. He signed former Formula One driver Eddie Cheever and raced full-time in the Indy Car World series with Target as primary sponsor. In 1992 Ganassi expanded to a two-car effort for the Indy 500, adding Arie Luyendyk for the Indy-only entry. Later Ganassi

debuted rookie Robby Gordon in selected events. For 1993, Luyendyk replaced Cheever full-time. Luyendyk and won the pole position for the Indy 500 and finished second to Fittipaldi, Ganassi's former driver in his partnership with Patrick. For 1994, Michael Andretti joined the team, immediately after returning from his failed transition to Formula One in 1993. He scored Ganassi's first Indy Car victory at Surfers Paradise. Target continued to sponsor Ganassi's operation through the decade, and by the mid part of the decade, the team had risen to the top of the series. Perhaps the most impressive was Juan Pablo Montoya winning the championship in his rookie season in 1999. They won four consecutive series championships, with Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997–1998),

and Montoya in 1999, becoming the first car owner to win four consecutive CART championships. In 1996 Zanadri would get three wins; while team mate Jimmy Vasser won four times. Zanardi had a better season winning five times in 1997 and topped that with seven wins in 1998. Zanadri moved elsewhere to race in 1998; and Juan Pablo Montoya would take his place. He had a great season winning on seven occasions. The team ran from 1992 to 2002 before moving into the Indy Racing League full-time. They had run one IRL entry for former motocross racer Jeff Ward in 2002, in which Ward won one race at Texas in one of the closest finishes in IRL history. In 2003 Ganassi hired driver Scott Dixon and he won three races and the Championship. 2004 and 2005 were down years as the team only managed to win one time. Dan Weldon joined Dixon in

2006 and each driver won twice and finished in the Top 4 in the points. 2007 the duo returned and while Weldon grabbed two wins; Dixon would visit the winners circle four times. In 2008 Dixon would give Ganassi another Indy car championship while winning on six occasions including the Indy 500. The following season Dixon won five times; while his new team mate Dario Franchiti would also win on five occasions. Franchiti would win the Championship while Dixon finished second. Both drivers would win three times in 2010 and Franchiti would defend his Championship; giving Ganassi his eighth Indy Car Championship. Franchiti would make it a three-pete winning the Championship once again in 2011. The following year would be a down season; but Franchiti would manage to get a win in the Indy 500 for the Ganassi Team. Dixon would win four times in 2014 and hand Ganassi yet another Indy Car Championship. 2015-

2017 were kind of lean years as his stable of four drivers only combined for a total of six wins. But on the strength of consistent finishes, Dixon won the Championship again in 2015. With all this success in the Indy Car series; Ganassi Racing branched out into competing in the Grand Am Sports Car Series. Initially, CGR fielded the 01 Lexus-Riley car driven by Scott Pruett and Max Papis. Their second team car, the 02, was driven by Jimmy Morales and Luis Diaz. CGR won the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with Ganassi IRL drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon along with NASCAR driver Casey Mears. In 2007, Ganassi won the race again, this time with Pruett, former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and Salvador Duran, making him the first owner to win it in back to back years since Al Holbert in 1986–87. In 2008 Chip Ganassi Racing won a third Daytona 24 in a row. Also in 2008, Chip Ganassi Racing won their 3rd Grand-Am Championship, with drivers

Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas. It was Pruett's 8th Road Racing Championship. Also participating was Memo Rojas, the first Mexican to win a major Road Racing title in North America. For the 2010 Grand Am season the team switched from Lexus-Riley to BMW-Riley. Rojas and Pruett won 9 out of 12 races and eventually won the Grand-Am championship. Ganassi's Grand-Am Series team started 2011 in the best possible fashion, earning a one-two finish in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. Ganassi's two cars ran towards the front of the field for the majority of the race, and driver Scott Pruett, having started third, defeated Scott Dixon by a margin of victory of over two seconds in a one-lap sprint to the finish after a late caution period. The victory made Ganassi the first racing team owner to win the four of the most important races in North American auto racing, the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, and 24 Hours of Daytona,

within the same 12-month span. Chip Ganassi Racing would field a Riley-Ford Daytona Prototype in the inaugural season of the merged United Sports Car Championship for Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, winning three races. In 2015, Rojas was replaced by ex-BMW works driver Joey Hand, and the team fielded an "all-star car" at Daytona consisting of the teams IndyCar and NASCAR drivers. For 2016, the team would move to the GTLM class with the brand new Ford GT. Long time Ganassi driver Pruett would no longer have a place on the team, as Hand would partner with Dirk Müller (another ex-BMW works driver), while Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook were hired to drive the second GT. The #66 Ford of Chip Ganassi Racing

Ford GT with drivers Sébastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Müller took the victory in LM GTE Pro category; then in the season the same trio of drivers won the 24 hours of Le Mans giving Ganassi his first Le Mans victory. The win came exactly 50 years on from Ford’s 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans in 1966. In January of 2017 the same trio of drivers in Ganassi machines kicked off the year winning their class at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. Ganassi would also win their class Championship that season. As 2018 dawned; Chip Ganassi Racing retained Kyle Larson and

Jamie McMurray as it's Cup drivers. But before the NASCAR season kicked off; Ganassi's Grand Am team would win the 2018 version of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona; making it the teams 200th overall victory. Before the year was over Scott Dixon would post three Indy Car Series wins and claim the Indy Car Championship. Meanwhile, the NASCAR drivers struggled. Kyle Larson was competitive most all season but never found victory lane. He seemed to be the perennial bridesmaid this season as he would finish second on six occasions. He had twelve

finishes inside the top five and 19 of tenth or better. He easily made the Chase via points; but was eliminated from the playoffs after the second round. Team mate McMurray had a worse season. He did post one second place finish; but it was one of only twice he finished in the top five. He never really was close to making the Chase and ended up 20th in points. Late that season Kurt Busch had announced he was looking for another team to drive for starting in 2019. Even though his Stewart-Haas team seemed to be the class of NASCAR; he had an interest in racing in the Indy 500 again. It was not announced where Busch would be going; but insiders rumored Busch would end up wheeling the #1 car in 2019. Later Ganassi announced that he would supply a car for McMurray to drive the Daytona 500 in; but then hoped he would

become a team manager at Chip Ganassi Racing. After the season was over; it was revealed that Busch was indeed going to drive for Ganassi. There is a high likelihood that Busch will again run this years Indy 500 along with be a driver of one of Ganassi's cars in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. McMurray turned down the offer to work for Ganassi and accepted a job working as a NASCAR analyst for NASCAR Race Hub on FOX Sports. On the Xfinity side of things; Ganassi had what could be called a successful season by many accounts. He fielded only one car that saw multiple drivers at the keyboard. John Hunter Nemechek made the most starts (18), and picked up a win at Kansas. Jamie McMurray and Justin Marks made three starts each

and both had one top ten finish. It was a surprise when Ganassi put Ross Chastain into the #42 car for three races. Chastain had kicked around the NASCAR scene for several years; but never had a shot to get in a competitive car and show off his talent. Chastain was tabbed to drive at Darlington, Las Vegas and Richmond. Ross made an impressive showing at the tough old Lady in Black as he won the first two stages at Darlington. He was leading the final stage late in the race when Kevin Harvick tried to pass three wide; got into Chastain and they both crashed. Two weeks later at Las Vegas; Chastain again showed he had what it took to compete with the big boys, when he led 180 of 200 laps and got his first win ever. The following

race at Richmond he would again run up front, but finished second when he just couldn't quite get by eventual winner Christopher Bell. This impressive showing led Ganassi to put Chastain into the #42 car full time for 2019. Chastain looked to be a real contender to win the 2019 Championship. However on December 21, 2018; the FBI raided the home of DC Solar's owner and CEO Jeff Carpoff. It is believed to be in connection with an ongoing tax dispute. Cars and items from inside the home were seized. It was also confirmed that there was also a raid at Benicia Industrial Park where DC Solar is located. Witnesses said business vehicles, additional personal cars and items from within the buildings were removed. In January of 2019; Ganassi announced that due to the

circumstances involving DC Solar owner Jeff Carpoff that he would have to shut down his Xfinity series race team; leaving Ross Chastain without a ride. In Ganassi's other race series endeavors. The Indy Car Series saw his driver Scott Dixon win the 2018 Indy Car Championship. Dixon won races at Texas and Toronto. His team had a total of 15 top five finishes and 22 top tens. In 2019 in the NASCAR Series with Jamie McMurray announcing his retirement at the end of 2018; that left a seat open in his race stable. Kurt Busch left Stewart-Haas Racing to fill that void. Ganassi hoped that Busch's experience might help Kyle Larson. Larson had went win less in 2018 and it was hoped the duo might turn things around. After being

caught up in a crash at the season opening Daytona 500; he recovered and in the next nine races posted no finish worse than 12th, with a second at Bristol. Busch broke through and won at Kentucky for his lone win. He made the Chase was eliminated in the first round. Meanwhile Larson got off to a poor start posting only four Top 10 finishes in the first 15 races. His performance improved greatly the second half of the season as he got a win at Dover, and had eleven Top 10 finishes in the final 18 races. He advanced to the third round of the Chase before being eliminated just before the Championship race. Busch signed a two year contract extension at the end of 2019. Meanwhile on the Indy Car front; Ganassi fielded cars for veteran Scott Dixon and rookie Felix Rosenqvist. Dixon

would win on the streets of Detroit and also at Mid-Ohio; but finish fourth in the season ending points. Ganassi also fielded cars in the IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship. His cars ran in the GTLM division and his drivers Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook posted wins at Lime Rock and Road America. They ended fourth in the points chase. In 2020, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson started out the season driving in the Cup Series for Ganassi. Four races were ran before the Coronavirus pandemic set in and NASCAR shut down for two months. Due to the mass pandemic of the Covid-19 virus; many NASCAR drivers were playing the popular online racing game called iRacing. It is very realistic and allowed the drivers to keep their skills sharp during the extended stoppage of the NASCAR season. During that time FOX aired the iRacing events to keep folks interested in NASCAR racing; and the fields were full of NASCAR drivers. In practice for one race Larson called to his spotter who didn't respond; and he called again and joking

called him the "N" word. Well the wheels all fell off for Larson after that. NASCAR issued an immediate suspension and ordered sensitivity training before Larson would be allowed to race in NASCAR again. All his sponsored pulled out. McDonalds; Capital One Credit; Chevrolet and others, notified Ganassi they would not sponsor the #42 car if Larson continued to drive it. Suddenly Ganassi was left with a car, and no sponsors, and was forced into a situation where he had to release Larson and hire Matt Kenseth to run the final 32 races of the season. It was a rough go for Kenseth. He hadn't raced in over a year; and when NASCAR racing resumed there was no practice or qualifying. The teams just rolled in; unload and went through tech and lined up to race. Kenseth greatly needed time to knock the rust off and it showed in

his performance. In the 32 races he ran he finished second at Indianapolis and only had one other Top 10 finish. Shortly before the end of the season; Kenseth announced that at the end of the season he would retire from NASCAR racing. Meanwhile Kurt Busch had a respectable season. He got off to a rough start the first two races; but the next nine races he had eight Top 10 finishes. He made the Chase via points and broke through to get the win at his home track of Las Vegas. This propelled his into the third round of the Chase. A bad finish at Kansas eliminated him from running for the Championship. He ended up tenth in the points. For 2021 Kurt was back behind the wheel of the #1 Chevy; and Ross Chastain moved up from the Xfinity Series to drive the #42. In Ganassi's other racing endeavors we see that Ganassi got out of Sports Car Racing. He had three full time drivers in the NNT Indy Car

Series. He supplied cars for Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenquist. Dixon kicked off the season winning the first three races, while Rosenquist won race number four. When the Indy 500 rolled around, Dixon started in the middle of the front row and led 11 laps. Dixon had to pit late in the race for fuel while Takuma Sato was staying out to try and stretch his fuel to the finish. Dixon was catching Sato at a quick pace when the yellow flew because of a crash with five laps to go. The track wasn't able to get the track cleaned up in time to run any more green flag laps. The race finished under yellow with Dixon finishing second. Due to Dixon's fast start winning the first three races, he went on to win the 2020 Indy Car Series Championship. This would be the sixth time he was the

Indy Car Series Champ. Perhaps the biggest news to come from Ganassi racing was that Jimmie Johnson would move to the Indy Car Series to drive for Ganassi on the road and street courses in 2021. Tony Kanaan would run the oval events. Johnson will run the #48 sponsored by Carvana. It was also announced that Ganassi would return to racing in the IMSA series in the DPi class. For the second year in a row Chip Ganassi perhaps produced the biggest story in racing. After getting Johnson to drive in Indy Car for him in 2021; He topped that story but announcing mid-season that he was selling all his assets in NASCAR and

getting out of NASCAR racing entirely. He sold out to TrackHouse Racing, but the transfer didn’t take place until the end of the season. His drivers, Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain had respectable years. Busch would win the
second time the circuit visited Atlanta. He outrun brother Kyle to get the win. This was eight years in a row Kurt has won at least one race. Busch had a rough first round, with finishes of 37th and 19th keeping him from advancing further. He ended the season eleventh place in points. For 2022, Busch was picked up by new team 23XI Racing to drive their second car. He will be team mates with Bubba Wallace. Meanwhile Chastain was driving the best

equipment of his career. The more races he ran, the better his results were as he acquired valuable seat time in a competitive car. He posted a second place finish at Nashville, and finished third in the Southern 500. Chastain just missed making it into the playoffs. Track House Racing kept Ross Chastain to drive for the following season and chose Daniel Suarez to fill the other seat. In his other racing endeavors, Ganassi expanded to 4 cars for the first time since 2017. The team scored the most wins by any team in the IndyCar series. Scott Dixon would take only one win on the season and was not able to defend his title. His teammates Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson had breakout years. Ericsson took wins at Detroit and the inaugural round at Nashville, while Palou would take wins at Barber, Road America, and Portland to win his first IndyCar championship. Palou would become the third

Ganassi driver to win the IndyCar Series championship. 2022 saw one major highlight for Ganassi. Marcus Ericsson would win the Indy 500; the fifth win for owner Ganassi. It was a rousing race that saw 38 lead changes and a crash with six laps to go caused a red flag with Ericsson leading. Racing resumed on lap 199, with Felix Rosenqvist diving to the inside of Tony Kanaan on the restart, allowing Ericsson and Pato O'Ward to gap the duo down the backstretch. On the final lap, O'Ward drew even with Ericsson entering turn one, but was unable to execute

a pass, seeing Ericsson get his first Indy 500 win. Stock car great Jimmie Johnson would make his first Indy 500 start this year; in what would turn out to be his final season with Ganassi. Johnson would qualify sixth and run a good race; but crash just before the checkers flew. With just six laps to go Johnson lost control of his car in turn two after entering too low, causing him to impact the outside wall. Johnson was uninjured in the accident, but a good run was thwarted. Later in the season Scott Dixon would win at Toronto and Nashville; while Alex Palou would

win the final event of the year at Laguna Seca. Johnson would have a career best Indy car finish of fifth, coming at Iowa. Ganassi returned to the Indy Car Series in 2023 with a line up of five drivers: Takuma Sato; Scott Dixon; Alex Palou; Marcus Ericsson; and Marcus Armstrong. Ericson started off the season winning at St Petersburg. Palou would win on the Indy road course, and then finish fourth in the Indy 500. After that he run off a string of three straight wins (Detroit, Road America, Mid-Ohio). He would win one additional time in the season when he took the checkers first at Portland. He would also claim the Indy car championship. Scott Dixon won three of the final four races and he finished the season strong, but came up second in points. Armstrong and Sato just raced part time. This made the 14th Indy car Championship for

Ganassi. For his NASCAR career the stats look like this. He has fielded cars for 1351 starts. He has 15 wins and 161 Top 5’s. In the Xfinity Series his drivers made 373 starts and got 20 wins and 81 Top 5’s. He also has five Indy 500 wins (2000, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2022); 14 Indy Car Series Championship (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2023); seven Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona wins (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015 & 2018); five Grand Am Championships (2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, & 2012).