Chip Ganassi

Floyd "Chip" Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) 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. He won his first auto race in a Formula Ford at the age of 18. He began his CART (Champ Car) racing career 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.

Ganassi's career was cut short by a huge crash at the 1984 Michigan 500, the race immediately following the Grand Prix of Cleveland. In one of many major accidents to occur in that year's race, Ganassi spun his car coming off one of the banked turns, and collided with Al Unser Jr.'s car. Ganassi's car then skated across the grass run-off area, slammed into the inside Armco barrier, tumbled multiple times and broke apart. Unser was uninjured, but Ganassi suffered serious head injuries. When CART doctor Stephen Olvey reached Ganassi he found him unconscious and unresponsive, and initially feared that Ganassi had been killed in the accident. 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. Ganassi never returned to driving full-time after the accident,Wicker, Ned. IndyCar Champion – A Season with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorbooks International, 1997, page 10 although briefly drove in both 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.Ken Wells, “Jaguar vs. Porsche – The Battle for Le Mans 1987" (William Kimberley Limited, , 1987)

Team owner

Personal life

Ganassi was formerly a vice president of FRG Group, his father's organization involved in commercial real estate, transportation and other areas. 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.

He attended the Monessen School district prior to his family moving to the Fox Chapel. He graduated from the Fox Chapel Area High School in 1978 and with a degree in finance from Duquesne University in 1982.Wicker, Ned. IndyCar Champion - A Season with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Motorbooks International, 1997, page 9 He received an Honorary Doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011.

Ganassi appeared in Sylvester Stallone's movie Driven, the film took place in fictionalized 2001 season. He is credited as "Team Owner" and fielded Til Schweiger played as Beau Brendenburg.

Awards

He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016.Chip Ganassi
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Racing record

Career highlights

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

CART

Indianapolis 500

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results

References

External links

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Chip Ganassi Racing

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganassi, Chip
1958 births
Duquesne University alumni
Indianapolis 500 drivers
IndyCar Series team owners
Living people
NASCAR team owners
Racing drivers from Pittsburgh
Sportspeople from Pittsburgh
World Sportscar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers
People from Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
American people of Italian descent
A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
Sports car racing team owners
Sauber Motorsport drivers