Tom Reck
Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Chip Ganassi has made his mark in auto racing many times as a car owner and can do it again this week at Indianapolis.
The personable former driver made history earlier this year when his drivers won the Daytona 500 (Jamie McMurray) and Indianapolis 500 (Dario Franchitti). He’s the first owner to accomplish that feat.
He can add to that record if McMurray or Juan Pablo Montoya wins the Brickyard 400 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ganassi not only would be the first owner to have the winning driver in the Daytona 500 and two Indy races but he would be the first to have the winning driver in the two events at Indianapolis.
Montoya had a good shot at winning the Sprint Cup race a year ago and has always run well at IMS, winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2000. He is the first former Formula One driver to drive full-time in NASCAR.
“Our season has gone pretty good [in both series] so far in the big events. We’ve been challenged from time to time in other races,” Ganassi said in a teleconference Monday.
He said Montoya does so well at Indianapolis and other places because he “races every lap” all the time. “He gets around Indy well,” said Ganassi.
He said preparation for the two races in Indianapolis is not that different especially with the 500 schedule reduced to two weeks.
“You need people with a lot of passion. You have to do your homework and be ready to race,” said Ganassi.
Montoya or McMurray may not be favored to win this week but both may be hard to keep out of Victory Lane. Jeff Gordon has won the race four times and Jimmie Johnson has won three times. They and Hoosier Tony Stewart may be rated the favorites.
One of our favorite moments of all-time in covering sports came in 1994 when Gordon crossed the finish line to the shouts of most of the fans in the stand, winning the very first Brickyard 400 at the track not far from where he went to high school and began his racing career.
He’s our sentimental favorite to win this week but we’re going with Kevin Harvick, the points leader who won the race in 2003.
Now you know.
• Juniors on course — Junior golfers took part in the city junior tournament in Terre Haute last week.
Rachel Welker and Shelby Stewart were the winners in the 15-17 divisions and received the Travis J. Smith Outstanding Golfer award presented for the second year by the Stark, Tanoos, Fleschner and Newlin Law Firm.
Several juniors from the area competed in tournaments on Monday and some will be in a Mountain Dew event today at Forest Park.
The Masters Championship is set for Thursday and the Mountain Dew Championship is Friday. Both are 36-hole events.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Robert Marve has been named the starting quarterback for Purdue football.
He is eligible for the first time after transferring from Miami of Florida where he threw for 1,293 yards and nine touchdowns in 2008.
Bloomington North running back D’Angelo Roberts says he will stay home to play college football, committing to Indiana.
He has rushed for 3,992 yards and needs just 323 in his senior season to pass Robert Boltinghouse of Edgewood to become the all-time leading rusher in Monroe County.
• There will be no boat racing on the Ohio River for Thunder on the Ohio in Evansville this year and the August 20-22 event will be known as Thunderfest.
Officials hope to bring the boats back in the future but finances were a problem this year.
• Butler has two more commitments in men’s basketball, coming from 6-foot-6 Andy Smeathers of Center Grove and 6-1 point guard Jackson Aldridge of Australia.
Smeathers was quoted in The Indianapolis Star as saying Miami of Ohio, Indiana State and William and Mary were other schools at the top of his list. He averaged 14 points per game and shot 42 percent as a junior.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by e-mail at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
