Intro To Indy - Chip Ganassi Racing - Pt 1 - Team

Next on our docket is Chip Ganassi Racing, who I ranked number two on my ranking list for 2025.

Just like Penske, we're going to start at the beginning. Chip Ganassi Racing is a racing team owned by Chip Ganassi. Similar to Roger Penske, Chip is a businessman with a history in racing. However, Chip was in CART Racing (the series that later evolved into IndyCar) in the 1980s and had a lot more action than Roger did in F1.

However, Chip's career in the car came to a grinding halt in 1984 at the Michigan 500. To spare you the details, after a brutal accident, Chip's car essentially disintegrated and was found unconscious and unresponsive. Though he made a slow but full recovery, he never returned full time to racing.

Instead, he started to develop Chip Ganassi Racing. Chip had gone on to work for his family's FRG Group, heavily involved in commercial real estate, transportation and other business endeavors. His work as a vice president ended up having him the collateral to create CGR.

Initially, he purchased a partial stake in the Marlboro CART Team in 1989 from Pat Patrick & Patrick Racing, who he had driven for earlier in the decade. When owner Pat Patrick (who Chip had raced for) retired at the end of the season, the team became Ganassi's.

During that transitional 1989 year, the team won the 500 and the championship.

Though Patrick ended up staying in CART, he sold the team to Ganassi. The Marlboro sponsorship departed with outgoing driver Emerson Fittipaldi, so Chip was free to rebrand fully to Chip Ganassi Racing. 1990's CGR saw a one driver team driving the full season.

In 1992 that elevated to two drivers.

In 1994, they welcomed a returning Michael Andretti, who gave them their first CGR win and highest finish in the championship at fourth.

Then, in 1996, they won the 500 and the championship with driver Jimmy Vasser. It only took Chip seven years to get from where they'd been when he came on back to the top.

This was the year of The Split, where IRL (now IndyCar) and CART became separate divisions.

Unlike Team Penske, CGR stayed with CART and won four consecutive titles under its banner (1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999) before breaking the line and rejoining IRL for the Indy 500.

CGR won the Indy 500 that year with Juan Pablo Montoya. One of the few drivers that have been successful in IndyCar/CART and then Formula 1, Montoya stayed with CGR until the end of the season. The following year he joined Williams F1 team.

Following suit, CGR left CART and joined IndyCar in 2002.

2003 had them win their first title with permanent fixture Scott Dixon in his first year with the outfit.

CGR currently holds the most title wins (12) - 2003, 2008, 2009 (1-2 finish), 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023 (1-2), 2024.

Their winners include Scott Dixon (Car 9, active), Dario Franchitti (retired), Àlex Palou (Car 10, active).

This year's lineup is current Champion Palou in the 10 car, previous champion Scott Dixon in the 9 car, and sophomore driver Kyffin Simpson. Usually, the CGR team has four or five cars on the grid, but the charter system has them have three cars for 2025.

Up next is the senior most driver on the team but also the grid, Scott Dixon.