Chip Ganassi Racing Completes Historic Day with 2 Victories & Runner-up Finish Across 3 Series By Diecast DudePosted on Thu May 01, 2008 at 01:48:14 AM EST
(Courtesy Target Chip Ganassi Racing & Chip Ganassi Racing with
Felix Sabates)
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Complete Historic Day with Two Victories
and Runner-up Finish Across Three Series
Ganassi Captures IndyCar Series and Rolex Grand-Am Wins While
Finishing Second in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series
CONCORD, N.C. (April 29, 2008) - Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
(CGRFS) and Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) celebrated a historic day Sunday
by picking up two wins and a second-place finish in three different races across
three different series. First, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the Rolex
Grand-Am event at Virginia International Raceway. Then, Juan Pablo Montoya
picked up a second-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at
Talladega Superspeedway, which was followed up by Dan Wheldon walking away with
an IndyCar Series win at Kansas Speedway. Sunday's results marked a team-best
combined finish for the organization.
The day began with Rojas and Pruett starting their No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley
from the back of the grid at VIR only to come roaring back through the field to
pick up their third win in the first four races of the season. After teaming up
with Dario Franchitti and Montoya to win the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona and
picking up another win at Homestead Miami Speedway, Rojas and Pruett have
dominated the series thus far. In their one other race of the season, they
finished second at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico.
Later in the day, CGRFS took to the track in Talladega, Ala. With all three cars
starting from the second half of the grid, it didn't take long for Montoya to
move his No. 42 Wrigley's TM Juicy Fruit® Dodge into the top 10 where he would
spend most of the day. Montoya would go on to tie his career-best stock car
performance on an oval by leading his first laps of the season and finishing
second on the final race rundown.
The day was capped off with Dan Wheldon picking up his first win of the season
in Kansas. Although teammate Scott Dixon led for most of the race, Wheldon took
over the lead with 40 laps remaining and never looked back with Dixon finishing
third. It marked the second win for Team Target in the first four races of the
season as Dixon won the season-opener at Homestead Miami Speedway at the end of
March.
This also marks the second time this season Ganassi has won twice in the same
day as both his IndyCar team (Dixon) and his Grand-Am team (Pruett and Rojas)
picked up back-to-back wins on March 29 in Homestead.
Between Pruett, Rojas, Montoya and Wheldon, they represent four championships,
two Indy 500 wins, 10 Rolex 24 At Daytona wins and nearly 100 professional
victories. In addition, they represent four different countries - Pruett (United
States), Rojas (Mexico), Montoya (Colombia) and Wheldon (England).
With five wins already in 2008, the team continues to add to its tally of 94
trips to victory lane. Ganassi's teams now include two IRL IndyCars, and along
with Felix Sabates he has three cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, two
entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Daytona Prototype in the world of
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series racing. Ganassi's IndyCar teams have amassed
five Championships and 58 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have 12 wins and two
Rookie-of-the-Year titles; and the Grand American team has won two Rolex Series
Daytona Prototype Championships and are an unprecedented three-time defending
Champions of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Quote Board:
Chip Ganassi
"As a team owner, who is involved in a number of different series, you live for
days like this," said Team Owner Chip Ganassi. "I am so proud of these guys. Our
Indy shop has been dominant from the first races of the season but I can tell
you that I am extremely proud of the way our people are coming together in our
stock car operation too."
Felix Sabates
"Sunday was an exciting day for me and our team," said Team Co-owner Felix
Sabates. "My hat goes off to the guys on our NASCAR and Grand-AM teams as they
have really rallied together to get our guys to the front of the pack in both
the Sprint Cup and Rolex Series races."
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