By Andrew Cutler
December 22 2007

For five seasons in the early & mid eighties, Floyd "Chip" Ganassi was a regular on the CART circut. As a driver he was decent and generally respected, but never overly successful. A serious crash brought his driving career to an end before he managed to find victory lane.

In 1988, still looking to remain a part of the racing world, Chip purchased a partial stake in Patrick Racing, a team that he had previously driven for. For two seasons he worked with the team and, as such, was part of former F1 star Emmerson Fittapaldi's victorious 1989 Indy 500 effort. 

By 1990, with sponsorship backing from the U.S. discount retail gaint Target Stores - who have remained with him to this day - and former F1 regular Eddie Cheever ready to take the wheel, Ganassi felt ready to strike out on his own. After the customary couple of season's worth of "growing pains", the team began to show signs of improvement. By the time of the CART/IRL split, Ganassi Racing was poised to be a top-flight team. The squad dominted the early years of post-split CART, winning four strait series championships from '96-'99.

Then, in 2000, Chip decided to "break ranks" with the other CART teams and run the IRL-sanctioned Indy 500 as a "one-off" event. The dominating effort of the team & driver Juan-Pablo Montoya would prove to be the catalyst that would tempt other CART squad to follow suit starting in 2001. For 2003 Chip was reading to move his team into the IRL fold full-time, and driver Scott Dixon would reward him with yet another series championship, his only so far in the IRL.

Chip Ganassi has always had an "eye" for talented young drivers, and many a rising star have passed though his organization, especially during his tenure in CART. Drivers like Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Montoya & Bruno Junqueira all made their name with Ganassi Racing. Scott Dixon is a hold-over from the tail end of the CART days.

In addition to his IRL effort, Chip owns a four car NASCAR squad (3 Nextel Cup & 1 Busch) and a Rolex Grand-Am series team.