Thorstar - 19 November 2009 08:58 PM

I would not be surprised though if Chip runs a 3rd car at Indy out of the TCGR stable. For who? That I don't know.

Didn't he run a third car with Rahal a couple of years ago at Indy?

Porsche 911 - 19 November 2009 08:45 PM

smuff76 - 19 November 2009 08:23 PM

So was Penske's, but he got it.

I highly doubt it. Verizon was already sponsor in the Penske organization. Its more of a one year, thank for 2008 deal for Power. With the possibility of replacing Briscoe in 2011 depending on his performance.

I think it's Castroneves who needs to look over his shoulder.

E.J. VISO would probably be the third car. This is because he comes with garunteed sponsorship from the Venezualan government which could easliy pay for a ride for him. He's also VERY fasy with tons of potential that has been squandered at HVM. He's fearless on the track and not afraid to mix it up with anybody. Plus a figure in a prominent South American motorsports magazine said that "he's negociating with two teams, one of a former champion(KV), and one with drivers with red cars(Ganassi), anythings possible if the $ is right.

Porsche 911 - 19 November 2009 06:28 PM

Ganassi really doesn't need another car. He has the top two drivers in the series.

Agreed. Penske is again taking 3 to take on 2. Dario and Dixon are flawless and it might take the powers of Will and Ryan with some points assistance by Helio to win a championship.

If this was more like F1, and team points really meant something, perhaps Chip might need to run another car, just to keep up with Penske in the points chase. Since it's really only the driver points that matter, he may think his 2 have as good a shot as the Penske trio. Without team orders, will the 3 Penske cars be taking points from each other and making Ganassi's job easier ?

The 3 penske cars will be taking points from Ganassi too though. Either way, I think it's a moot point. Penske saw the opportunity to hire one of the (if not the) fastest driver in the series on road courses. 90% of the field (and a few owners) could put a Penske car in the top 5 on the ovals.......

Very true.

I was thinking that , if each Penske car won 2 races, and one Ganassi car won 3 races, the Ganassi driver could still win the championship, even though team Penske won twice as many races.

RedOak - 19 November 2009 09:32 PM

Thorstar - 19 November 2009 08:58 PM

I would not be surprised though if Chip runs a 3rd car at Indy out of the TCGR stable. For who? That I don't know.

Didn't he run a third car with Rahal a couple of years ago at Indy?

Actually, in 2001 he ran four cars at the Speedway...Tony Stewart, Jimmy Vasser, Bruno Junquiera, and Nicholas Minassian.

I remember being there for Pole Day doing a High School capstone project for Photography (being 18 and having a media credential at the Speedway still ranks as pretty darn cool; the pics are mounted in my parents house). Stewart and Vasser were the hired guns for them then (IIRC neither ran for Ganassi in CART). Ganassi's secretary came out the garage late in the day and told myself and a couple of other onlookers that they would be running Junquiera and Minassian now that Vasser and Stewart were in the show, and both of them qualied on the second day.

In the race, Minassian broke the gearbox and finished well down the order, but Vasser, Junky, and Stewart finished 4th, 5th, and 6th in that order completing a CART sweep of the top six.

The following year, they also ran three cars: Jeff Ward (9th), Kenny Brack (11th), and Junky (31st) were the drivers with their respective finishing positions noted. Junqiera was also the polesitter for the event and led the first 32 laps before he lost his gearbox on lap 87 according to the box score.

In 2005, as many of you may recall, Ganassi ran three cars for the entire season (Dixon, Manning, and Briscoe) with the third car often sharing branding the Pioneer.

I guess what Im getting at is that there is precedent, although 2001 was an unusual situation as the two additional cars were the backups for the original entries, and Briscoe came complete with massive Toyota backing for his full season run in 2005.

So, in conclusion, it must be said that Ganassi will run more than two cars, and has done so successfully in the past, but will only do so if the price is right and the entries can all be truly competitive. My speculation, however, would be that given the economy and the sponsorship situation, even the Chipster isnt going to be able to find the requisite cash for additional car(s), and anyone who might bring such funding wouldnt be competitive enough for him to give them a chance anyways.

Note also that Danica will be running for Andretti, my sources have told me. Hunter-Reay will also (though his is not signed yet). The Danica anouncement hinges on whether or not she will be doing any NASCAR races next season, and the sponsorship integration issues with operating in both series (ie: sponsor the cab effort, pay for a part of the IndyCar action also).

I think Jimmy Vasser WAS Chip's driver in CART. He and JPM were teammates and Jimmy and Alex Zanardi were teammates.

Wasn't 01 the year that Chip ran Junky and Minassian in CART and brought in Vasser and Smoke for the 500 because of the other 2's unfamiliarity with Indy? I just can't think of where Vasser was that year or am I forgetting something?