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Chip Ganassi
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Floyd "Chip" Ganassi (born May 24, 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and educated at local Duquesne University) is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner. He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on both the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit. His NASCAR operation is under the banner Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, after a merger with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
His Indy team has won multiple Indianapolis 500 races and the CART championship.
ssi began his CART (Champ Car) racing career in 1981 and competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, with a best finish of 8th in 1983.
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Encyclopedia
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi (born May 24, 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and educated at local Duquesne University) is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner. He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on both the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit. His NASCAR operation is under the banner Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, after a merger with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
His Indy team has won multiple Indianapolis 500 races and the CART championship.
IndyCar driver and race team owner
Ganassi began his CART (Champ Car) racing career in 1981 and competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, with a best finish of 8th in 1983. His career was cut 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, two cars in the Indy Racing League, two cars in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class and one car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
His CART/IRL drivers have included Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Scott Dixon, Bruno Junqueira, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Renna, Tomas Scheckter, Darren Manning, Ryan Briscoe, Jacques Lazier, and Dan Wheldon. His NASCAR drivers have included Sterling Marlin, Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Jimmy Spencer, David Stremme, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Dario Franchitti.
Ganassi teams have won Champ Car titles in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 and the IRL championship in 2003 and 2008. His teams have also won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 with Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 with Scott Dixon, as well as 50 Champ Car and IRL races. His NASCAR race team is based in Concord, North Carolina, which is near Charlotte. The IRL team is located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Michigan Crash
In the 1984 Michigan 500, Ganassi cut a tire and got into Al Unser Jr. on the backstretch. They drifted into the infield. Unser flipped while Ganassi got airborne and the roof of his monocoque was sent into the inside retaining wall with his head hitting the wall. Ganassi's car literally 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
In addition to his racing interests, he is also a former minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates major league baseball team.
He graduated with a degree in finance from Duquense University in 1982, at a time that he was racing.
He currently resides in the borough of Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania.
As a teenager Chip also raced motocross with his buddies from Seven Springs. His first bike was a 125 Penton and his second bike was a 250 CZ.
Indy 500 results as a driver
|-
!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
|-
|colspan=6|Totals
|594
|0
|
|}
|-
!Starts
|5
|-
!Poles
|0
|-
!Front Row
|0
|-
!Wins
|0
|-
!Top 5
|0
|-
!Top 10
|1
|-
!Retired
|4
|}
>>
External links
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