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Chip Ganassi made history Sunday when Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 but gave credit to members of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Franchitti’s victory followed the victory by Ganassi Racing driver Jamie McMurray in the Daytona 500 in February. Ganassi became the first team owner to win the IndyCar Series and NASCAR events in the same year.
“I am a very lucky guy to be in this business. I never drove one of the cars … or changed a tire,” said Ganassi.
Talking about Franchitti assuming the lead from his third starting spot at the start, Ganassi said, “I think it was very important that Dario asserted himself … it set the stage. We have led lots of laps here in the past and didn’t win.”
He gave a lot of credit to Sunday’s success to team manager Mike Hull. “It takes a guy like Mike to keep us all focused on the race. That’s what he does,” said Ganassi.
“This is what teams work to achieve. It is the greatest race in the world. Chip has afforded me first-class drivers to work with. These two [Scott Dixon and Franchitti] have never held anything back from each other,” said Hull.
Franchitti was asked to compare winning two races to the victories achieved earlier in the race by fellow United Kingdom drivers Jimmy Clark and Jimmy Stewart. “If I drive until I am 70 and win races, I would not be in their class. They are legends,” said the winner.
Noting British drivers did finish 1-2-3 and four were in the top 10, he said, “We must be doing something right.”
• Few mishaps — Sunday’s race was basically free of serious accidents until the final lap, when Mike Conway smacked the car driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Other drivers made contact with the wall, forcing them from the action, but none incurred injury.
Davey Hamilton was first out of the race after doing a half-spin exiting the second turn, not completing one lap; he finished 33rd, his worst finish in 10 starts in the race. His previous worst finish was 23rd and he had three finishes in the top 10.
Others to exit because of making contact with the wall were John Andretti, Vitor Meira, Ryan Briscoe, Sebastian Saavedra and Takuma Sato. Sarah Fisher completed 67 laps before retiring due to mechanical problems.
• Hoffman, Swanson win — In racing Saturday, Terry Hoffman and Tanner Swanson were two winners.
Huffman bested Steve Byrley to win the first Matt Agresta Memorial race for sportsman class at Crossroads Dragway. Other winners were Tony Virgilio and Troy Mann.
Fun Night runs are slated Friday with regular racing Saturday. Time runs are at 11:30 a.m. with eliminations at 2:30 p.m. Track information is available at www.crossroadsdragway.com.
At Clermont, Tanner Swanson won the Night Before 500 race for U.S. Auto Club midgets at O’Reilly Raceway Park.
Swanson led the final 19 laps to win the 50-lap main. Bryan Clauson led laps 2 through 31 to finish second and assumed the lead in the midget point totals. Mario Marietta of Clinton finished 15th.
Saturday’s Dragway results
Super pro — Tony Virgilio of Cloverdale, 2006 RED Spitzer, def. Chris Sanders of Farmersburg, 1968 Road Runner; semis: Bob Wright.
Pro — Troy Mann of Terre Haute, 1965 Coronet, def. Steve Thompson of Danville, Ill., 1974 Vega; semis: Mike Tewell.
Sportsman — Terry Hoffman of Monrovia, 1995 Impala, def. Steve Byrley of North Terre Haute, 1996 Chevelle; semis: Bryan Taylor.
Saturday’s O’Reilly results
Fast qualifier — Chuck Gurney Jr.
Heat winners — Tracy Hines, Bobby Santos III, Brad Sweet, Kevin Swindell, Daniel Bedford (semi).
Feature — Tanner Swanson, Bryan Clauson, Kody Swanson, Brad Kuhn, Sweet, Billy Wease, Levi Roberts, Hines, Darren Hagen, Santos, Adam Kramer, Dakota Armstrong, Shane Hmiel, Dave Darland, Mario Marietta.
USAC midget point leaders — Clauson 399, Sweet 378, Hagen 369, East 368, Hines 367.
Tom Reck and Lori Wood contributed to this report.
Auto Racing
Ganassi makes history, ecomes first owner to win Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500
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