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Chip Ganassi Racing through the years
By Zack Albert | Thursday, July 29, 2021
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Chip Ganassi Racing has accumulated a rich history of motorsports memories, in NASCAR, IndyCar and sports-car competition. The stock-car side of the operation will transition to new ownership at season's end under the Trackhouse Racing banner.
Reflect on the organization's NASCAR legacy and its top moments in this collection of archival photos through the years.
Reflect on the organization's NASCAR legacy and its top moments in this collection of archival photos through the years.
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Before team ownership was in the offing, Chip Ganassi worked his way into IndyCar racing as an aspiring driver from Fox Chapel, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. He briefly raced in motorcross before finding success in Super Vees and other road-racing competition.
Ganassi made 27 starts in the CART champ car series from 1982-86, and made five appearances in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of eighth place in 1982. Ganassi was seriously injured in a crash at Michigan International Speedway in 1984, and he made just four CART starts during the next two years. He entered team ownership, first as a partner with Pat Patrick's operation and then on his own starting in 1990.
Ganassi made 27 starts in the CART champ car series from 1982-86, and made five appearances in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of eighth place in 1982. Ganassi was seriously injured in a crash at Michigan International Speedway in 1984, and he made just four CART starts during the next two years. He entered team ownership, first as a partner with Pat Patrick's operation and then on his own starting in 1990.
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Ganassi's interest in NASCAR ownership came after he established his IndyCar team as a championship-winning group. He eventually partnered with team owner Felix Sabates, a Cuban-born businessman who began Sabco Racing in 1989. Kyle Petty piled up six of Sabco's seven wins (Joe Nemechek scored the other) in the team's No. 42 entry.
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Among Ganassi's first drivers was Sterling Marlin, who by 2001 was already a two-time Daytona 500 winner. He joined Sabates in 1998 and remained with the group under new co-ownership through the 2005 season, winning four races with the team.
The formation of the team synced with Dodge's return to NASCAR Cup Series competition that year, and Ganassi fielded Chrysler products for its first eight seasons.
The formation of the team synced with Dodge's return to NASCAR Cup Series competition that year, and Ganassi fielded Chrysler products for its first eight seasons.
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Ganassi's first driver lineup also included a young driver from the sprint-car ranks, Jason Leffler. The California native notched his lone Cup Series pole with the No. 01 team in their only season together. Jimmy Spencer joined the group for the 2002 campaign, and the car number changed from No. 01 to 41.
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Marlin's strongest bid for a Cup Series championship ended early in 2002, when he sustained a broken vertebra in his neck during a crash at Kansas Speedway. He had led the standings for 25 weeks, but missed the rest of the season after his injury.
Jamie McMurray -- then a promising Xfinity Series regular -- joined the No. 40 Dodge team as a substitute, launching what would become a long-running partnership between driver and owner.
Jamie McMurray -- then a promising Xfinity Series regular -- joined the No. 40 Dodge team as a substitute, launching what would become a long-running partnership between driver and owner.
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McMurray found success in just his second Cup Series start, an upset victory for the 26-year-old rookie at Charlotte Motor Speedway that had co-owners Ganassi and Sabates celebrating on pit road. "They took a chance on me," McMurray told reporters, noting that he had yet to win in other NASCAR national series at that point. "They put me in first-class equipment and I made the most of it tonight."
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Chip Ganassi Racing grew to a three-car operation in 2003, with Casey Mears added to the mix of Marlin and a now full-time McMurray in the No. 42 entry. Mears drove four seasons for the team.
The organization went through a winless patch from 2003-06, a trend that changed the following year. McMurray left to drive for Jack Roush's team in 2006, but would be reunited with Ganassi four years later.
The organization went through a winless patch from 2003-06, a trend that changed the following year. McMurray left to drive for Jack Roush's team in 2006, but would be reunited with Ganassi four years later.
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Colombian-born Juan Pablo Montoya, a decorated winner for Ganassi's IndyCar team, joined NASCAR's Cup Series in 2007 and put his road-racing expertise to good use. He passed McMurray with seven laps left at Sonoma Raceway and stretched his fuel to the end for his first Cup Series win. "This guy never once flinched," Ganassi said of Montoya. "Never once did he have anything but winning on his mind."
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Major change came to the team in 2009 with a merger that created Earnhardt Ganassi Racing out of the former Dale Earnhardt Inc. operation, and a manufacturer switch from Dodge to Chevrolet. Aric Almirola briefly drove under the EGR banner, but the core of the group that season was Montoya and a young Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 1 Chevy.
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McMurray returned to the organization in a big way in 2010, taking over the No. 1 ride and driving it to victory in the season-opening Daytona 500. McMurray led just the final two laps in an overtime finish to win The Great American Race.
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The 2010 season marked a big haul for Ganassi in multiple series. Here, he's flanked by Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti and the Borg-Warner Trophy and McMurray with Daytona's Harley J. Earl Trophy after becoming the first team owner to win the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 in the same year.
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McMurray continued his 2010 winning ways, adding a Brickyard 400 victory to his tally. "It's been an unbelievable year," said McMurray, who capitalized when dominant teammate Montoya -- the pole-starter and leader of 86 of the 160 laps -- crashed out after a pit-stop strategy play shuffled him back in the running order.
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Montoya contributed to the Earnhardt Ganassi win total for 2010 with a triumph at Watkins Glen International in the No. 42 Chevrolet. His second victory wound up being the last of his Cup Series career.
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The two seasons that followed the 2010 bounty were winless, a dry spell that ended once Jamie McMurray returned to Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2013.
More change was in store in 2014 for the team, which reverted back to its name of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Montoya returned to the IndyCar Series that year, and the team replaced him with Kyle Larson, a top prospect with a rich pedigree in dirt-track racing.
More change was in store in 2014 for the team, which reverted back to its name of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Montoya returned to the IndyCar Series that year, and the team replaced him with Kyle Larson, a top prospect with a rich pedigree in dirt-track racing.
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Ganassi also fielded entries in NASCAR's Xfinity Series from 2004-18, scoring 20 wins with a host of drivers. Among them was a spirited victory by Justin Marks in the rain at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016.
Nearly five years later, Marks' connection to Ganassi would prove pivotal in shaping the team's direction.
Nearly five years later, Marks' connection to Ganassi would prove pivotal in shaping the team's direction.
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Kyle Larson endured two winless seasons before finally breaking through in his 99th Cup Series start. His triumph at Michigan International Speedway also broke a 99-race drought for Ganassi and clinched the driver's first playoff berth.
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Larson bounced back with more success the next year, kicking off a four-win season with a springtime victory at Auto Club Speedway in his home state of California.
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Among the Xfinity Series winners for Ganassi was Ross Chastain, who drove the team's No. 42 to his first national-series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Florida watermelon driver celebrated with his favorite fruit in Victory Lane. An eventual full-time Cup Series ride with Ganassi would come Chastain's way in 2020.
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Kurt Busch joined the Chip Ganassi Racing roster in 2019, taking over the No. 1 Chevrolet after Jamie McMurray's retirement from full-time competition. The former Cup Series champ registered a memorable first win with his new team, holding off his brother, Kyle, in an overtime dash at Kentucky Speedway.
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Busch provided another stirring memory for Ganassi in 2020, shaking up the playoff picture with a hometown triumph at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that September. Less than a year later, Busch added a victory at another intermediate-sized track, winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway to etch his name in the 2021 postseason grid. His third victory with Ganassi stretched his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one win to eight.
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Trackhouse Racing, led by former driver Justin Marks, announced the purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing on June 30, 2021. Trackhouse plans to expand to a two-car operation in 2022, and Busch and Chastain are set to close out the team's final season as Chip Ganassi Racing this year. "I can honestly say that my NASCAR team was not for sale," Ganassi said in a statement. "Justin simply came to me with a great offer and an even better vision."
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