Chip Ganassi
Ganassi at Le Mans in 2023
Born
Floyd Ganassi Jr.

(1958-05-24) May 24, 1958
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationFox Chapel Area High School
Alma materDuquesne University (BA)
Occupation(s)Owner and CEO, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
Years active1990–present
EmployerChip Ganassi Racing Teams
WebsiteChipGanassiRacing.com

Floyd Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) better known as Chip Ganassi, is an American businessman, former 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. He is owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams in the IndyCar Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, and Extreme E. 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.

Racing driver

Ganassi attended the Bob Bondurant Driving School in 1977 while a student at the Fox Chapel Area High School.[1] He won his first auto race in a Formula Ford at the age of 18. He began his CART (Champ Car) racing career [Ed. at Trenton Speedway in 1978-`79—see Talk Page] 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 standings. 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, in his next race his career was cut short by a huge crash at Michigan involving Al Unser Jr. In a race full of huge accidents, he spun his car coming off one of the banked turns, he then collected Unser Jr., his car then skated across the grass run-off area, slammed into the inside Armco barrier, his car tumbled multiple times and broke apart- although Unser Jr. was uninjured, Ganassi suffered serious head injuries. When CART doctor Stephen Olvey reached Ganassi he found him unconscious and unresponsive, and initially feared the driver might not have survived. When Olvey was about to start administering CPR, Ganassi resumed breathing. He was airlifted to the University of Michigan Hospital. After a time he regained consciousness, and while initially suffered short term memory loss he would go on to feel he had made a full recovery.[2] Following the accident he did not race for 9 months; he never raced full-time again.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Although he returned to race briefly in CART and IMSA in 1986. Ganassi achieved his top sportscar result in the 1986 Kodak Copies 500 at Watkins Glen that 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 teammates for the event, Johnny Dumfries set the fastest lap of the race prior to handing the car over to Ganassi upon whom the gearbox broke.[9][10]

Team owner

Ganassi and Lorin Ranier at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2014

Personal life

Ganassi was formerly a vice president of FRG Group, his father's organization involved in commercial real estate, transportation and other areas.[3] 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 Children's Research Hospital, to which his teams have donated over US$500,000.[11]

He graduated from the Fox Chapel Area High School in 1978 and with a degree in finance from Duquesne University in 1982.[12] He received an Honorary Doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011.

Awards

He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016.[13]

Racing record

Career highlights

Season Series Position Team Car
1981 Robert Bosch Formula Super Vee Championship[14][15] 6th March-Volkswagen 79/80SV
Ralt-Volkswagen RT5
1981-82 USAC Gold Crown Series[16][17] 37th First Commercial Corp. Wildcat-Cosworth
1982 PPG Indy Car World Series[18][19] 34th Rhoades Racing Wildcat-Cosworth
1982-83 USAC Gold Crown Series[20] 16th Patrick Racing Wildcat-Cosworth
1983 PPG Indy Car World Series[21][22] 9th Patrick Racing Wildcat-Cosworth
1983-84 USAC Gold Crown Series[23][24] 32nd Patrick Racing March-Cosworth 84C
1984 PPG Indy Car World Series[25][26] 20th Patrick Racing Wildcat-Cosworth
March-Cosworth 84C
1986 IMSA Camel Light Championship[27][28] 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 Ref
1981 Brayton Racing PHX1 MIL1 ATL1 ATL2 MIS RIV MIL2 MIS2 WGL MEX PHX2
DNQ		 NC - [29]
1982 Rhoades Racing PHX1
22		 ATL MIL1 CLE
11		 MIS1
31		 MIL2 POC
17		 RIV ROA MIS2
16		 PHX2 34th 10 [30]
1983 Patrick Racing ATL INDY
8		 MIL CLE
13		 MIS1
8		 ROA
21		 POC
26		 RIV MDO
25		 MIS2
6		 LVG
3		 LS
3		 PHX
5		 9th 56 [31]
1984 Patrick Racing LBH
25		 PHX1
11		 INDY
28		 MIL
11		 POR
15		 MEA
9		 CLE
2		 MIS1
27		 ROA POC MDO SAN MIS2 PHX2 LS LVG 20th 24 [32]
1985 A. J. Foyt Enterprises LBH INDY
22		 MIL POR MEA CLE 51st 0 [33]
Machinists Union Racing MIS1
22		 ROA POC MDO SAN MIS2 LS PHX MIA
1986 Machinists Union Racing PHX1
14		 LBH INDY
21		 MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIS1 POC MDO SAN MIS2 ROA LS PHX2 MIA 43rd 0 [34]

Indianapolis 500

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1987 Switzerland Kouros Racing United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries
New Zealand 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 United States RC Buick Hawk/Conte United States John Paul Jr.
Italy Ivan Capelli
United States 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 Belgium I.M.C. Toyota Belgium Emmanuel Remion
Belgium José Close		 Toyota Corolla GT ser.T1.6 DNQ

References

  1. ↑ "Fox Chapel district to honor Ganassi". TribLIVE.com. September 16, 2004. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  2. ↑ Directed by Michael William Miles, Roger Hinze (2019). Rapid Response. A Mile A Way Productions. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  3. 1 2 Vettraino, J.T. (September 17, 2012). "Inside His Mind". Autoweek. 62 (19): 70–75.
  4. ↑ Wicker, Ned. IndyCar Champion – A Season with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorbooks International, 1997, page 10
  5. ↑ "History of CGRT". Archived from the original on 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  6. ↑ "Chip Ganassi". 8 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Driver Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2013-11-04.
  8. ↑ "Driver Chip Ganassi 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Ken Wells, “Jaguar vs. Porsche – The Battle for Le Mans 1987" (William Kimberley Limited, ISBN 0 946132 43 7, 1987)
  11. ↑ "Chip Ganassi". Archived from the original on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  12. ↑ Wicker, Ned. IndyCar Champion - A Season with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorbooks International, 1997, page 9
  13. ↑ Chip Ganassi at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  14. ↑ "Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship 1981 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Galpin, Darren. "1981 Robert Bosch Formula Super Vee Championship". Teamdan.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "USAC Gold Crown Series standings for 1981". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "USAC Gold Crown Championship 1982 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "CART standings for 1982". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "PPG Indy Car World Series 1982 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "USAC Gold Crown Series standings for 1982". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "CART standings for 1983". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "PPG Indy Car World Series 1983 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "USAC Gold Crown Series standings for 1983". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "USAC Gold Crown Championship 1984 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  25. ↑ "CART standings for 1984". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  26. ↑ "PPG Indy Car World Series 1984 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  27. ↑ "1995 Player's Toyota Atlantic Championship". Champcarstats.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  28. ↑ "IMSA Camel Lights 1986 standings". Driverdb.com. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  29. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1981 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Chip Ganassi – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
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