Ganassi Adds Two IndyCar Teams

By Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit

LATEST ARTICLE
HPD And Ilmor Trade Parting Gifts
Photo: Anne Proffit Today's INDYCAR World Championship represents the end of an era in premier... Read More

• N/ALEADERBOARD RANK
• 319ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 1COMMENTS POSTED

1,538 views Dec 17, 2010

In 2011 Chip Ganassi will enlarge on a 2010 empire that included championship winning Indy cars, big-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles and another championship in the Rolex Grand-Am series.

The award-gathering team owner announced he’d have a brace of satellite IndyCar Series teams. “It’s no secret that we’re always looking for ways to get better and expand our racing programs,” Ganassi allowed.

Ganassi’s first announcement is that American racing star Graham Rahal, the youngest IndyCar Series winner at 19 years and 93 days, when he won on debut on the streets of St Petersburg in 2008, has signed to drive the Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone entry. Rahal’s affiliation with Service Central began in 2010 when he drove several races for Sarah Fisher Racing, the group that brought Service Central, retail tire sales firm with brands Service Central, Tire Kingdom, NTB-National Tire and Battery, Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers and Big O Tires to the open wheel sport.

Service Central decided to take its sponsorship dollars to Rahal and find the right team for him, the desire being to hook up with Ganassi, who is fast approaching Roger Penske as the most successful team owner in the sport. The alignment gives the brand opportunities to win in the IZOD IndyCar Series with a recognizable name like Rahal’s. “It’s an excellent opportunity for us to start a new team and showcase our brands. We’re thrilled to part a part of Chip Ganassi’s team,” said Orland Wolford, CEO, TBC Retail Group, Service Central.

“Chip’s 2010 season was definitely one for the ages,” Rahal admitted. “19 wins, Indianapolis (twice), Daytona, another IndyCar Series Championship, I could go on and on but as Chip says, ‘I’m looking forward to the next race, which is in St Petersburg in March. I’m thrilled to be a part of this great organization and look forward to making the most out of this opportunity.”

To add to that new arrangement, Ganassi formed a second team for Firestone Indy Lights graduate Charlie Kimball, who made his mark in Formula 3 Euroseries when no American doors opened for racing opportunity. Kimball, 25, began racing karts at age nine.

The Californian had an opportunity to go to prestigious Stanford University but decided, instead, to follow his dream of racing professionally. Diagnosed with diabetes in 2007, Kimball has used his pharmaceutical defense against the disease to sponsorship advantage, bringing Novo Nordisk into the open wheel racing arena during his fourth-finishing 2010 Indy Lights campaign during which Kimball landed two second-place finishes among his five podium results.

With his entry in the IndyCar Series, Kimball becomes the first licensed driver with diabetes to race at this elevated level. His sponsor, a company that has made products to treat diabetics for 87 years, is the leader in the market and as Novo Nordisk vice president of diabetes marketing Camille Lee said, “This is really about supporting people that have diabetes and have hopes and dreams. We’re sending a message out there that having diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t fulfill those dreams and you can’t have an active lifestyle,” she said. “Charlie uses our products, the Levemir FlexPen, and Novolog FlexPen, and it's helped making him successful in fulfilling those dreams and that's why we're here supporting him.”

Kimball first discovered that he had the disease while racing F3. He monitors his blood sugar throughout races and feels, even with the advanced distances of IndyCar Series events, that he’ll be able to perform. “I've got a couple of tools in the car. I wear a continuous glucose monitor to keep an eye on my blood sugar while I'm driving. If I need sugar, I've got a bottle mounted with orange juice,” Kimball explained. “I was talking to my engineer about how that process is going to work in the Indy car, and it looks similar to the Firestone Indy Lights cars. So everything's a go.”
 
At this time, Ganassi runs his two-car championship Target Ganassi IndyCar team and his title-winning Grand-Am single-car squad at a shop on the west side of Indianapolis. There is, according to general manager Mike Hull, an open environment at the facility between the three teams on-site.

Taking a page from the Rick Hendrick playbook, the two new teams will operate from a separate facility in Brownsburg, using a shop that formerly housed Don Prudhomme Racing. Prudhomme and Ganassi have been good friends for a long time and The Snake, as Prudhomme’s been known in the drag racing paddock, has long had an interest in Indy cars, dating back to 1969. This alliance is a way for Prudhomme to get his feet wet in the sport, looking toward increased involvement when new rules come onboard in 2012.

Ganassi has re-hired Mitch Davis to manage the new outfits in Brownsburg. Davis had been an integral part of Team Target until a couple of years ago and has been working with other squads since that time. While with Ganassi, he won the C&R Racing True Grit award presented during the Indianapolis 500 each year to a standout mechanic.

© 2010 Anne Proffit