Chip Ganassi

Chip Ganassi
Ganassi at a race in 2006
Born	Floyd Ganassi, Jr (1958-05-24)May 24, 1958 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Residence	Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Nationality	United States
Other names	Chip Ganassi
Citizenship	United States
Education	B.A. Finance
Alma mater	Duquesne University
Occupation	Owner and CEO, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Years active	1990-present
Employer	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Home town	Pittsburgh
Website
ChipGanassiRacing.com

Floyd "Chip" Ganassi, Jr (born May 24, 1958) is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner.

He is currently the owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams on the IZOD IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex Sports Car Series. His NASCAR operation was formerly under the banner Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, after a partnership with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2009.

His teams have won four Indianapolis 500 races and nine IndyCar Series championships, five Rolex 24 At Daytonas and six GRAND-AM championships Rolex Sports Car Series and one Daytona 500.

On February 14, 2010, Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 in a Ganassi-owned car, and on May 30, 2010, Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 in one of Ganassi's cars, making him the first owner to win both races in the same year and joining Roger Penske as the only owners to win both races all time. On July 25, 2010, McMurray won the Brickyard 400, making Chip Ganassi the first team owner to win the "Triple Crown" of American auto racing. On January 30, 2011 his GRAND-AM team won the 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.

IndyCar driver and race team owner

Ganassi 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 and competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, with a best finish of 8th in 1983. His career was cut short by a big crash that injured him at Michigan in 1984, although he returned to race briefly in CART and IMSA in 1986, Ganassi purchased an interest in Patrick Racing in 1988—a team he had raced with before in 1984—and was part of the team that won the 1989 Indianapolis 500. In 1990, he split off and formed his own team, Chip Ganassi Racing, with Target as the principal sponsor. He also became active in the NASCAR circuit.

He currently operates two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, three cars in the IZOD IndyCar Series, and one car in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class.

His CART/IndyCar Series drivers have included Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Scott Dixon, Bruno Junqueira, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Renna, Jeff Ward, Bryan Herta, Robby Gordon, Ryan Briscoe, Kenny Bräck, Tomas Scheckter, Darren Manning, Jacques Lazier, Nicolas Minassian, Tony Stewart, Memo Gidley, Dario Franchitti, Giorgio Pantano, Alex Lloyd, and Dan Wheldon. His NASCAR drivers have included Sterling Marlin, Jason Leffler, Dorsey Schroeder, Scott Pruett, Aric Almirola, Bryan Clauson, Kevin Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Jimmy Spencer, David Stremme, Montoya, and Franchitti.

Ganassi teams have won CART titles in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 and IndyCar Series championships in 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. His teams have also won the Indianapolis 500 with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000, with Scott Dixon in 2008 and with Franchitti in 2010 and 2012, as well as 89 IndyCar Series races. His NASCAR race team is based in Concord, North Carolina. The IndyCar Series teams are located in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Indiana.

Ganassi's GRAND-AM teams have won six titles - 2004 (Scott Pruett and Max Papis), 2006 (Pruett and Luis Diaz), 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 (Pruett and Memo Rojas). This teams have also won five Rolex 24 At Daytonas - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2013.

1984 Michigan 500

In the 1984 Michigan 500, Ganassi cut a tire and got into Al Unser Jr. on the backstretch. They drifted into the infield. Unser hit the inside guardrail nose-first, while Ganassi's car got airborne and slammed top-first into the guardrail with Ganassi's head hitting the rail. Ganassi's car disentigrated in midair. Ganassi suffered smoke inhalation, a concussion, a broken sternum and collarbone and many contusions. This effectively ended Ganassi's driving career.

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.

On August 19, 2013, Ganassi's father Floyd died at the age of 87.

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

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							MIS1 Ret	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	LS	PHX	MIA
1986	Machinists Union	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	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1987	C1	62	M	Sauber C6 Mercedes-Benz M137 5.0L Turbo V8	Kouros Racing	Johnny Dumfries Mike Thackwell	37	DNF	DNF

External links

• Chip Ganassi Racing
• Owner Ganassi gets past financial difficulties