Chip Ganassi Makes More Racing History at Indianapolis

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Soaked in champagne and still grinning from ear to ear, NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi was walking over to a Corvette convertible for his second victory lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the last two months when Tony Stewart stopped him in his tracks.

They shook hands, shared a laugh and Stewart, NASCAR's only owner-driver, patted Ganassi on the back, offering his congratulations.

"That was a moment between car owners,'' Sunday's fifth-place finisher Stewart said with a smile and a nod. "Can I appreciate what he's done here? Oh yeah.''

What he's done is make history as the first team owner in auto racing history to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Brickyard 400 at Indy in the same season. But it came with a twist.

One of Ganassi's drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya, dominated practice, qualifying and most of the early race until crashing with 15 laps to go Sunday while his other driver, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray beat Kevin Harvick on the ensuing re-start, held off the field for 11 laps and ultimately delivered the triumph to Ganassi instead.

In all, Ganassi drivers led a race-best 102 of the event's 160 laps, but McMurray's 16 laps out front (including five earlier in the day) is the second fewest ever for a winner. Not that it matters.

"To win all those (races) in one year is remarkable,'' Harvick said of Ganassi's organization. "It will probably never happen again.''

At least not this way.

Agony and ecstasy are as integral to Indianapolis Motor Speedway as high speed and high danger. But seldom do they occur to one team simultaneously, as they did Sunday afternoon.

While Ganassi was celebrating in victory lane with McMurray's team, for the second year in a row Montoya sat heartbroken in his motor coach near Indy's famous Gasoline Alley. Last season, Montoya led 116 of the race's first 125 laps but dropped out of contention when he was penalized for speeding on a late-race pit stop.



On Sunday, he was leading the race when his team opted for four tires on a pit stop with 21 laps remaining and six other teams -- including McMurray's -- took only two tires and therefore got back on track ahead of Montoya.

Back in traffic, Montoya's No. 42 Target Chevy didn't perform like it had out front in clean air and he crashed into the Turn 4 wall after colliding with Dale Earnhardt Jr., bringing out the final caution. McMurray took the lead on that restart, essentially benefiting from Montoya's final indignity.

When asked what he could possibly say to Montoya to ease the heart break, Ganassi did not hesitate.

"What do I say? That they should have taken two (tires),'' Ganassi said, only half-joking.

"I know (Montoya) is mad, I'm sure he's mad, but he's probably over it already. It's racing. This is what he does for a living.

"Look, it takes a team to win in this sport. This is a win for the team. Today was certainly a mixed emotions day in that respect, but without the 42 team, the 1 car wouldn't have won, I don't think. That's what happens.''

Montoya did not speak to the press after the race, but the first sentence out of McMurray's mouth during the post-race news conference was appreciation for the testing Montoya had done at Indianapolis and how that had helped his team as well.

McMurray even conceded that at one point Sunday when he was behind Montoya and they were running first and second, he was somewhat content with that position because it would have been a team victory.

"For anybody that can lead that many laps of a race, they certainly had the best car,'' McMurray said, sympathizing with his teammate.

"But I would guess that they're not shocked by what's happened today because it seems like they've had a lot of bad luck. That's hard on anybody to lead that many laps and I know this is a special place to Juan from winning the Indy 500 and being the guy that can be the only guy that's won both those races.''

Instead it was Ganassi and the humble McMurray's day to shine.

McMurray is only the third driver in NASCAR history -- joining Dale Jarrett (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2006) -- to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season.



Meanwhile, Ganassi, whose IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon won at Edmonton later Sunday, insists that as happy and honored he is to accomplish this feat, he takes most satisfaction in the fact his team has prevailed after a massive reorganization two years ago when critics wondered if his NASCAR foray was overly ambitious and doomed.

"We had to pull our wings in a a bit and make some changes and take it a little bit on the chin, which we did,'' Ganassi said.

"But we always knew we'd be racing. Everybody was ready to kiss us off, we knew that wasn't the case.''

And now, as they say, it's history -- something not lost on him or the hundreds of people who stuck with Ganassi.

Less than an hour earlier, as McMurray's team made its way down pit road and into victory circle for celebratory toasts and trophy hoists, Ganassi's Director of Competition, Steve Hmiel, grabbed a crewman with a bear hug and put the afternoon in perspective.

"This is never going to happen again,'' Hmeil explained excitedly.

"Do you realize your grandchildren will be talking about this day?''