IRL Chit Chat
Another defection from Cart? Ganassi is running two cars in CART as well, but what about next year?
Another defection from Cart? Ganassi is running two cars in CART as well, but what about next year?
(Feb 5) INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed it is in the process of starting a full-time Indy Racing League team that would most likely feature Jeff Ward as the driver on the 15-race 2002 schedule.
A major step in that effort came last week when the team asked to be considered for a spot on the IRL's Leader Circle Program -- an incentive program that is reserved for the top 24 full-time teams in the series.
"The application process is very defined and we first have to qualify in the application process to be considered to be part of the Leader Circle Program," said Mike Hull, Managing Director of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, which already races in CART and NASCAR. "We don't know if we qualify, so we have submitted an application.
"That means we have to show cause that we are going to run in the IRL full-time. We've been working on a full-time IRL program, but we do not have it done yet. We are working on, though. In motor racing, the deals that are made sometimes take some time and don't become public knowledge until they happen. But we are working on it and we want to be there."
Hull said Ward is at the top of the list as potential drivers. Hull said the list is very short but "Jeff is a very talented guy and he deserves an opportunity to drive in that series. He has certainly proven his worth there. We are a team that wants to win and he has proven he can do that. That's why his name is up there."
Ward has yet to win a race in the IRL, but has come close to victory on numerous occasions. Hull also said the sponsorship for the team would not be Target for 2002, but Ganassi's CART and IRL sponsor could back the full-time IRL effort in 2003, when Toyota joins the IRL as an engine supplier. Chip Ganassi Racing will serve as a Toyota test team in private IRL tests this year.
The 2002 IRL season begins at Homestead, Florida on March 2.
"If we are going to be in the Leader Circle Program, we will race at Homestead and the other 14 races in the IRL this season," Hull said. "We would very much like to run a car in the series and we don't want that in any way to take away from what we are doing with the cars in the CART series. We want to win races and championships in CART. If we undertake a program in the IRL, the reason this is taking a long time is in addition to being cautious, we are being very thorough.
Hull added that the team will do some testing for Toyota. If the team is going to test for Toyota the day after IRL events, it may as well compete in the race the day before, although it would have to be with either a Chevrolet or an Infiniti engine.
In addition to a possible IRL team, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing features 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack and Bruno Junqueira in CART as well as Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer in NASCAR.
Walker Racing and Mo Nunn Racing both run teams in IRL and CART. Marlboro Team Penske decided to leave CART altogether at the end of the 2001 season to participate full-time in the IRL this year with two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran and defending Indianapolis 500 Helio Castroneves as the drivers.
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing won four straight CART titles from 1996-99 with Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi (two years in a row) and Juan Montoya, who also won the 2000 Indianapolis 500.
"We are doing everything we can do night and day to make the IRL team happen," Hull said. "We are testing at Fontana, California on Wednesday with Bruno and Kenny Brack running.
"We are hoping by the time March 2 comes around, we'll have something to announce in the IRL."