Ganassi at Indy

KC · 7 May 2001, 15:47 (Ref:89901)

Nicolas Minassian and Bruno Junqueria will not be tapped to race for the Borg Warner Trophy at the 2001 Indy 500 this year. Ganassi will run former TCGR pilot Jimmy Vasser and former IRL champ and current NASCAR racer Tony Stewart intheir Olds Aurora-powered G-Force IRL cars. I guess that Ganassi does not think that Minassian and Junqueria have been fast enough during testing and thinks his chances are better with the oval experienced Vasser and Stewart.

Liz · 7 May 2001, 16:00 (Ref:89904)

I hope they both retire on Lap 2.

And Penske wins the race WITH THE GUYS HE HIRED TO DRIVE FOR HIM. I can imagine what this will do to the confidence of the two Ganassi boys. Certainly it will not do anything to build a sense of team!

Jay · 7 May 2001, 16:41 (Ref:89908)

Just when Bruno was starting to show some promise! His driving style is even suited to driving in circles! I have always liked Jimmy Vasser, but he is taking someone else's spot here with little guarantee that he would do any better.

Let's hope Tony Stewart's engine goes on the pace lap! I hope the Penske racers lap the field!

domaza · 7 May 2001, 18:13 (Ref:89931)

This is really bad desition by Chip Ganassi. Why? I quess Chip afreid to loose his money. I'm 100% sure Chip drivers won't win INDY 500 and I hope Stewart retaires early in the race. I like Vasser and I hope he could lead the race until final lap and then his engine will blow. So Vasser shows to Chip he could drive and Chip woun't get the honour and money! NAZARETH race was good!

Emfa · 7 May 2001, 20:24 (Ref:89964)

Chip does pay the bills, but ...

I'm wondering (like Liz) just what it is doing to team morale. What driver doesn't dream of driving at Indy? Then when it's within reach, the carpet is ripped out from under you!

When Bruno & Nick move on to bigger & better things and Chip has to hire some new guys, will they think twice about working for someone who may or may not let them drive some races?
I just find it very ironic that Chip would hire Jimmy back like this!

Liz · 7 May 2001, 20:49 (Ref:89970)

I hope it's a failure.

Crash Test · 8 May 2001, 00:55 (Ref:90052)

Why not just get the young kiddies to race what they were hired to do? Race in CART. Isn't the nest race in 2 weeks? Wouldn't it be best for his main men to concentrate on one job only. I honestly don't see whats wrong with this. Jimmy will be very determined to impress, and Toy Stewart is an incredible driver- not only in open wheelers, but in tin tops as he demonstrated again last weekend.

Why did he hire these young guys anyways? Wasn't it due to the fact that Montoya was gone and Jimmy just wasn't that interested any more? Way to go Chip, I'll be cheering for Tony on te 27th of May..

**gomick** · 8 May 2001, 07:49 (Ref:90100)

i hope tony stewart wins, he is a brilliant nascar driver and can mix it with the best open wheelers as we know (irl champ 97?)......as for jimmy, well he could have told chip where to go, but he still dreams of indy and once he is in the race car on race day at that track......

DNQ · 8 May 2001, 09:10 (Ref:90110)

Hmm, bad choice by Chip, Indeed. I can't believe he could make such a late change. Surely this will destroy Bruno and Nicolas's morale. I must admit however that their pace, partularly Minassian's, has not been too good.

Anyway, I hope Jimmy Vasser does alright, I like the bloke. As for Stewert, don't know enough about him to comment.

kuchi · 8 May 2001, 13:03 (Ref:90196)

Well it might've been an awkward situation for the CART gannassi boys, I personally don't agree, but based on the results of Minassian on ovals I think it was the right choice, but not for Bruno, he is way better driver than Nicolas, eventhough this is not an excuse to make such a dirty move on them. I don't have anything against Vasser, I like him, but Stewart? leave him crashing everyone at Nascar, I think he is such a spoiled guy (Jeff Gordon fan here), anyway ganassi won last year, may be he though he had no chance to win again with his current drivers.

KC · 8 May 2001, 14:33 (Ref:90241)

I understand Ganassi's move to bring in more experienced drivers. It is a business proposition and he probably wants Minassian and Junqueria to continue testing their CART machines. However, none of us knows the inside story. Maybe Ganassi made the decision alone, maybe Target and Home Depot approached him with the idea, maybe Minassian and Junqueria said they did not think they could do the team proper there, maybe it's all of the above.

One of the amazing aspects of this story is how Ganassi got the deal done. He and Vasser did not part on happy terms last year. Joe Gibbs was unhappy with Ganassi after he signed Jason Lefler to Winston Cup from Gibbs Busch program, yet somehow he got all of these guys together with Target and Home Depot and got the deal done. That's an amazing story in and of itself.

Liz · 8 May 2001, 15:43 (Ref:90264)

Vasser has no sponsors. Pat Patrick needs mucho dinero muy rapido. I daresay that had something to do with the speed of his getting this "deal" done.

Bruno and Nik are both quoted as being hugely disappointed and I daresay they are also angry, though they will not say in public. And it won't surprise me if we see this turned into a vote of confidence for "Real Amurricans" racing at Indy as opposed to "Wussy Ferriners" -because that is what it looks like.

Business is business. But maybe the people who do business would like to stay in business, and treating your employees like a disposable commodity isn't the way to make people think you are serious about what you say you are trying to do. (Assuming what you are trying to do is win a championship, not simply fill your pants with cash.)

**bella** · 8 May 2001, 18:22 (Ref:90352)

BAR STEWARD!

ok, i'm with the yanks on this one. he is an arse.

of course, they'll all be like, oh, he's come to his senses. i bloody well don't think so. quick boys, get out of this god-forsaken team before it's too late.

ps. nicolas, could you win just before you turn the lights out? thanks.

enemy-ace · 8 May 2001, 21:14 (Ref:90482)

I really don't understand why Gannasi's decision to race Stewart and Vasser over Minassian and Junquera is such a bad move. Indy has nothing to do with the Cart championship and Gannasi isn't going there for his Cart drivers, he's going there for Target and TCGR. If your going to spend that much money, why would you risk it on unproven
commodities. I'm sure Junquera and Minnasian may well one day become good oval racers but at the moment they just don't have the seat time. As for them losing their seats, well that is part of the business, do you really think if the roles were reversed that they would turn down the chance to race at Indy. I doubt it. As for wishing any racer ill-will during a race, be it as simple as a retirement, i find rather disheartening. Personally i hope everybody has a spectacular race and may the best man or woman win.

Crash Test · 8 May 2001, 23:44 (Ref:90556)

Fully agreed emeny-ace. It may be a case of not wanting to risk their CART stars...?

BTW- How long has Home Depot been in on this deal? Only since Stewart stepped into the picture? It probably makes the decision fairly easy then for Chip...

floid2000 · 18 May 2001, 21:05 (Ref:94114)

Who among you can deny that Chip is probably the best "scout" in racing ? He knows how to pick drivers and will probably do well in the 500. Let his other drivers concentrate on the CART championship.
DONT FORGET ! Its entertainment to us ,but it's business to the owners AND drivers. I am ,personally, pulling for Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart (in that order)

Crash Test · 20 May 2001, 22:48 (Ref:94633)

Now they didn't have a crash hot (parden the horrible pun) in Japan now did they?

Any second thoughts? Bruno has one pole to his credit, but between them they have 4 crashes on oval tracks in the last couple of months....

Joe Fan · 20 May 2001, 23:53 (Ref:94653)

Wow! I am amazed to see some of the comments here. Well, the F3000 twins are in but even if Chip didn't find them a car to run the race, it was a good decision to go with experience in Stewart and Vasser. The F3000 twins haven't shown me much and neither are or ever will be a Montoya. Everyone has to remember that the Indy 500 is a side deal and not part of the CART schedule. So, what is wrong with Chip wanting to win? He couldn't depending on two inexperienced drivers to deliver the goods.

Crash Test · 21 May 2001, 03:47 (Ref:94671)

Azar! Someone else has joined me in the minority! Good call Joe

Crash Test · 23 May 2001, 00:13 (Ref:95378)

Here I am waiting for a reply and nothing has happened.

Come one folks, what to you think will happen to the 4 Ganassi boys on Sunday??

KC · 23 May 2001, 13:08 (Ref:95542)

If the race starts with no problem then Stewart will run and I think he will be very quick and most likely lead the early portions of the race. I am not sure if he can keep his car together for he entire race however.

Vasser will run just like last year. In the hunt all race and being conservative until the end. If he does not get screwed by flawed pit strategy he might well get the win.

Bruno Junqueria I think will be OK if he does not manage to spin out on the first few laps. The combination of the lower torque engine and tall gearing should prevent him from having another cold tire episode as he has had on some of the ovals this season. He should finish in the top 10 if he can stay clear of problems.

Nicolas Minassian is a wild card. Will Indy be his breakout event where he shows his potential to be a contender or will he remain like a fish out of water and languish in the back? I hope he can get it together because he is a likeable racer.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Ganassi DP	gttouring	Sportscar & GT Racing	38	7 Jan 2004 15:23
Ganassi at Grand Am	gttouring	North American Racing	19	15 Dec 2003 00:17
Dixon to Ganassi?	macdaddy	ChampCar World Series	23	30 May 2002 11:24
Ganassi rookies may sit out Indy	SevenGrain	ChampCar World Series	9	21 Apr 2001 16:49
Ganassi wants Button	MichaelC	Formula One	12	18 Jun 2000 02:34