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Tour of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Indianapolis
The week before last I got the opportunity to get a tour of Target Chip Ganassi Racing here in Indianapolis. Mike Hull who is the GM and as most of you know acts as crew chief for Scott Dixon gave the tour. I'm an old sprint car racer from the past so I was obviously interested in the tour and what all they did preparing their cars and getting a sneak peak at the new IRL car. One thing that stood out was my overwhelming concern for smaller teams. You might think that these cars are basically "Kit Cars" but you would be amazed at what is built and not bought off the shelf to get an advantage. I began to really feel sorry for the smaller teams who cannot afford to have complete fabrication shops with CNC machines, paint booths, gear box mechanics and each driver will have four cars each available for the season. Its no wonder Penske, Andretti, and Ganassi have such an advantage.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Gilder on -
Seems to be the way of the future....at least it seems that way now. I keep thinking with the shrinking economy, that eventually some for the larger teams (as is beginning to happen in NASCAR) will begin shrinking and hopefully making room for the smaller independents. Money will always win, though. but I hate seeing racing become a contest between a handful of large teams.
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Permalink Reply by George M. Wilkins on -
Thanks for your reply. I wish this site had more interaction, but hopefully that will change.
I was actually surprised that they built a lot of their own parts. I figured that it was a lot like sprint car racing and most was bought off the shelf, but these guys would build front end pieces that were at the proper angle to reduce drag, plus it was their stuff so I'm sure they had more confidence in their pieces than a store bought one. I think it has always been the haves against the have nots no matter what you choose to race. I started out racing midgets in 1986 and back then it was affordable for a low buck deal like we had with a VW and still be competitive. I know that I couldn't have afforded to race midgets today. I would have probably raced mini sprints and then bought a sprint car.
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