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NASCAR History: Car Number 41 and Chip Ganassi Racing

by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

January 4, 2010 11:32 am CST 2 Comments

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Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day. Reed Sorenson in car number 41

I’m gonna venture out of my comfort zone just a bit in today’s spotlight. “The Great American Race” is the Daytona 500, but today I’m going to use car #41 as as segue of sorts to do my first spotlight on a NASCAR team. This team’s owner, Chip Ganassi, attempted to transplant two open-wheel championship drivers, and winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” (the Indianapolis 500) into stock car racing.

Stats for all cars running the #41:

Chip Ganassi

Number of Races: 930
Number of Wins: 22
Number of Top 5s: 93
Number of Top 10s: 182
Number of Poles: 19

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Chip Ganassi Racing

I’ll start by saying I’ve never been a huge open wheel fan. That’s not to say I haven’t watched my fair share of INDY 500 races though. As a Rusty Wallace fan, I was automatically a Team Penske fan no matter what sort of racing was going on. Roger Penske wasn’t the only car owner playing in both IndyCar and NASCAR. Chip Ganassi has both raced in and fielded cars as an owner in IndyCar, CART, Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and NASCAR.

Chip Ganassi Racing has competed in Sprint Cup racing since 2001 after purchasing 80% of Felix Sabates’s SABCO Racing. For the 2009 NASCAR Cup season, Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc.. Only one driver from Ganassi Racing- Juan Pablo Montoya -would move over to the new organization.

Most Recent Drivers for Chip Ganassi Racing:

Scott Pruett

Chip Ganassi and Scott Pruett For several years Chip Ganassi tapped into the talented Scott Pruett as a “road course ringer” when the NASCAR circuit made it’s way to Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glenn International. Much of Scott’s talent was exercised in open wheel racing during the 1990s in the Champ Car series where he logged 2 wins in 145 starts. Since 2001, Scott has been called upon nine times to either substitute for the regular Cup driver, or pilot an extra car for the Ganassi Racing team. In those eight races Scott posted 3 top five and 5 top ten finishes, giving him an average finish of 18.3 for all starts with Ganassi Racing. In 2007 Scott was on the receiving end of a “bump-n-run” in a much publicized Busch series finish. It came when Ganassi’s newest driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, booted him out of the way to steal a win in the Telcel-Motorola 200 in Mexico City.

Juan Pablo Montoya

NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya Enter Juan Pablo Montoya. In 1999 he took home open wheel’s CART Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. The next year he would add to his trophy case by not only taking Rookie of the Year honors in IndyCar, but also the coveted Indy 500 trophy! Next on his list of things to conquer, NASCAR. He came onto the NASCAR scene in 2007 and as evidenced in the story above with Pruett, he was determined to succeed at almost any cost. In doing so, he in part set himself up for quite a bit of the negative reception he received in the Cup series. His answer was to exceed precisely where most thought he would do well, on the road course. With over a four second lead on second place, Montoya scored his first Sprint Cup win at the Infineon Raceway. Four races later the Cup series would roll into Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400. Montoya would make it an all Ganassi front row by putting his #42 Texaco Dodge on the outside pole while teammate Reed Sorenson put his #41 Target Dodge on the pole. Though he wouldn’t lead a lap during the race, he would bring it home in second less than 3 seconds behind winner Tony Stewart. 2009 was a great year for Montoya where enough consistency was shown (7 top fives, 18 top tens) to result in a Chase berth.

Dario Franchitti

In 2008 Chip Ganassi tweaked his formula for success by fielding another open wheeler, Dario Franchitti. Dario finished in second place in the 1999 CART series championship to his new teammate at Ganassi Racing, Juan Pablo Montoya. While they both finished the season with the same points total, Montoya’s 7 wins bested Franchitti’s 3 wins. Dario has multiple wins in various series such as IndyCar, CART, and the British Formula Three Championship to name a few. Perhaps the most coveted is his 2007 Indy 500 win. Ganassi positioned Dario behind the wheel of the #40 for Sprint Cup competition. However, failure to qualify for races, poor performance, an ankle injury, and a lack of sponsorship closed the lid on Dario’s NASCAR career.

Reed Sorenson

NASCAR driver Reed Sorenson Reed Sorenson piloted the #41 for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2006 through the 2008 Cup season. Despite having zero wins in Cup, he was the veteran Cup driver amongst Ganassi Racing’s trio. Interestingly enough, Reed has one pole and it came in the 2007 season in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis. Reed finished that race in 5th place, which gave Ganassi two cars in the top five.

His position at Ganassi Racing was a peculiar one. How does a 21 year old with more stock car experience than his teammates fit into the organization when those teammates bring such grand achievements? Imagine yourself at 21 years of age being teamed with two older drivers with huge celebrity status and elite success in open-wheel racing– including Indy 500 and series championships!

Reed had tremendous pressure to perform in 2008. The pressures on these drivers are great anyway, but my admiration for this young man went up quite a bit when considering his teammates. Unfortunately, the performance wasn’t there and when Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Earnhardt Racing for the 2009 season, Reed was let go and took a ride at Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Filed under: Chip Ganassi Racing, James Jones, Juan Pablo Montoya, NASCAR, NASCAR History, Reed Sorenson

Tagged with: Chip Ganassi, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Reed Sorenson, Scott Pruett

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Juan Pablo Montoya Dominates at Brickyard; but Johnson Wins

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

July 27, 2009 6:37 am CDT 3 Comments

The records will show that Jimmie Johnson won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and that Juan Pablo Montoya finished eleventh.

But that will only be a small portion of the real story. Montoya had run flawlessly throughout the day; so much so that he had built a four second lead when he came to pit road on lap 125. He had led 116 of those laps and seemed to have control of the race.

What happened then, would cause a dominant race team, car and driver to wonder exactly what did happen. NASCAR’s scoring system clocked Montoya as too fast on pit road and assessed him a penalty that would relegate him to that eleventh place finish.

Montoya asked the logical question, “I had a four second lead, why would I speed”. Montoya believed he wasn’t close to speeding and that he had relied on the car’s dashboard warning light system to guide him. Maybe NASCAR wasn’t wrong and his dashboard system was.

NASCAR posts a speed limit for pit road and then gives drivers a five mile per hour cushion. Maybe–just maybe Montoya’s warning system was set to go off at the cushion speed and not at the speed limit.

Montoya had the best race car but possiby not the best preparation. It is too bad because having Juan be the first to win the 500 and the 400 would be a good thing for the sport.

So here is this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Do you believe NASCAR or Juan Pablo Montoya?

Let us know what you think and we could use your answer on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show heard live from 5-7pm ET every Tuesday. Or have a chance to win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead by calling the show at 1-800-645-2946 and you could be our Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day.

photo credit: BethAnne Heisler/ON PIT ROW/Bench Racing Productions

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Juan Pablo Montoya, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: jimmie johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya

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NASCAR’s Business Model Changing

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

December 9, 2008 9:10 am CST 4 Comments

Not since the early 1980’s could NASCAR have so many unsponsored cars at its Cup races.

Most reports have only two-thirds of the full time prospective Cup teams with sponsorship deals for 2009. Yates Racing still only has full time sponsorship for their new team member Paul Menard. That deal is with his fathers owned home improvement business. Menard will drive the number 98 this year; joining the unsponsored #38 and #28 of David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil respectively.

Dale Earnhardt, Inc and Chip Ganassi Racing have had to merge in an effort to keep the BassPro sponsorship for 2009. BassPro could leave the number 1 car if there were not two full time team mates for 2009. By merging with Ganassi, Martin Truex, Jr. will have those two full time team mates in Juan Pablo Montoya and possibly Bobby Labonte who could move over from Petty Enterprises to drive the number 41 Target car.

If Labonte leaves Petty Enterprises and the iconic number 43 ride; that could open that seat for Reed Sorenson as he would move over from his proposed seat in the GEM number 10. The merger of GEM and Boston Ventures owned Petty Enterprises could leave NASCAR without a Petty in an ownership role for the first time in years. Don’t forget that Mike Curb owned the 43 for some years in the late 1970s.

Which leads us to this weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Where did Petty Enterprises go wrong?

Let us know what you think about this question or anything else going on in NASCAR’s off season. Have a comment about the banquet–let us know and we could use your comment on this week ON PIT ROW radio show. Or call the show live starting at 5pm ET on Tuesdays at 1-877-502-8255. Listen live at www.onpitrow.com

photo credit: BethAnne Heisler/ ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, How to fix NASCAR, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Earnhardt, david gilliland, Inc., Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Mike Curb, Paul Menard, Petty Enterprises, Travis Kvapil, Yates Racing

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Cousin Carl is Good–But Can it Continue

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

November 3, 2008 10:49 pm CST No Comments

Carl Edwards did what he needed to do again at Texas and gained some ground on Jimmy Johnson.

The problem is whether he was able to gain enough ground to keep his championship hopes alive. There is still a bit over one hundred points separating the two and all JJ has to do is get a couple of seventh place finishes at Phoenix and Homestead to gain his third consecutive title.

Edwards‘ win came on a late race gamble by crew chief Bob Osborne to not take fuel and slow the #99 down to conserve fuel. Cousin Carl had this to say about that decision:

Never had Bob yell at me for going too fast, but he did tonight. I just was so nervous that we were missing something. I thought there’s no way we can go this slow, save this much fuel, and still be leading this race. They did a really great job, though. That was cool. You know, of all the ways you can win a race, fuel mileage isn’t the most exciting one. But we had I believe a dominant car all day. The car was very fast. We got behind on that last pit stop. It was very cool to still win the thing.

The other sub plot from Texa involved a couple of non-Chase drivers. Juan Pablo Montoya and David Gilliland got into a couple of shunts that resulted in Gilliland pulling a full “Scott Speed” on JPM and sent him into the wall at 180mph.

And that leads to this weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Who are you believing–Montoya’s “He wrecked me” or Gilliland’s “I miscalculated”?

Give us your thoughts and we could use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW. You can listen from 5-7pm ET at www.onpitrow.com. Or call us direct at 877-502-8255 and you could win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead if your call is deemed The Shell Gunk Free Call of the Week.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Jimmy Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Roush Racing, Scott Speed

Tagged with: Carl Edwards, david gilliland, Jimmy Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya

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Signing A.J. Allmendinger Would Be A Steal For Ganassi

by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the writer of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog, which you can access through the links on the right. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

September 21, 2008 7:58 pm CDT 4 Comments

Should Red Bull Racing make the (stupid) decision to fire A.J. Allmendinger, Ganassi will score a coup. Allmendinger has returned from the brink in fine fashion this season after getting Mike Skinner in the car to confirm what he was feeling. A.J. has gone on to score no fewer than 9 finishes in the top half of the field, with 5 top 15 finishes – a marked improvement from his 2007 and early 2008 results. What’s more, Allmendinger won the Sprint Open in May and has run in the top 5 during races, specifically his race at California a few weeks ago. Yet he will likely face termination, possibly as soon as this week or next, to make room for Scott Speed. Sure, Speed has talent coming out of his painted toenails, but there is no reason to rush him to Cup – especially not to replace Allmendinger, who has shown more improvement than any driver except for David Ragan in 2008.

Should it happen, Ganassi will likely swoop in and sign Allmendinger to drive the #41 in 2009 – or sooner, should Reed Sorenson cause enough trouble to get released early to his new ride at GEM. It wouldn’t be the first time for Allmendinger and Ganassi to work together, last season Ganassi put A.J. in the #42 Busch car 7 races. It’s believed that this seat time helped A.J. immensely. Not to mention, as others have, Ganassi has multiple teams in open-wheel and sports cars to scratch whatever itch his drivers may have. That could include moving to the IRL and compete for the championship, or an Indy 500 win.

Simply put, I don’t want Allmendinger gone from Red Bull. He has done too much and shown too much promise to be shown the door. If it happens, I look at Ganassi being his best option. Juan Pablo Montoya’s been running a bit better lately, perhaps showing that the disbandment of the #40 team has helped. I know this: A.J. Allmendinger belongs in the Sprint Cup Series – whether it’s with Red Bull or Ganassi. He’ll prove to whoever doubts him that the talent and desire are there. He just needs the team and the equipment.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Chip Ganassi Racing, David Ragan, NASCAR, Red Bull Racing, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed

Tagged with: A.J. Allmendinger, Busch Series, Chip Ganassi Racing, David Ragan, Ganassi Racing, GEM, Indy 500, IRL, Juan Pablo Montoya, Red Bull, Red Bull Racing, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, Sprint Open

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Could Juan Pablo Montoya Win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard?

by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

July 27, 2008 11:34 am CDT 2 Comments

Get this. Juan Pablo Montoya has an average start, mid-race position and finish of second at the Brickyard. At least he does in his lone NASCAR race there. Of course he’s won the Indy 500, in a former, open-wheeled life. So maybe we should give his single season NASCAR stats more credit they would seem to deserve.

Indy should be a good track for Montoya. Besides his history of success there, the track is flat and fast, traits that play into JPM’s fantastic car control. He could win this race, if the car and the team are up to it. And that, I doubt.

Tony Stewart, 2007’s Indy winner has the best Loop Stats for Indy. The Loop Data cover the last three Allstate 400s, only. Smoke has the top Driver Rating at 121.4 and has led 109 laps and has a stat best 76 Fastest Laps. But going back, beyond the three Loop stat years, Tony has two wins and four top fives, six top tens and a pole. His average finish is 7.6. He drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which fields, maybe the best cars in Cup this year. He looks like a favorite.

Friday at Indy, Stewart-Haas Racing showed off the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet that Stewart himself will drive in 2009. Tony was excited. He also talked about all the things that the team has yet to do in preparation for Daytona in February. As good as he is, I just think that the distractions of his new venture cancel many of his apparent pluses for any race this year. I can’t pick Stewart to win.

The list of drivers I like at Indy is short. There is, I think, a reason that all but two of the winners of this race have been NASCAR Cup Series champs at some point in their careers. It takes a special driver to win the Brickyard. You don’t get the big, three wide packs of the plate tracks - and no “big one” wrecks that thin the field of quality contenders. You sometimes get flukey seeming winners at Daytona and Talladega. Not at Indy. Long green flag runs also separate the quality.

Kevin Harvick is one of only two Brickyard winners to have never been a Cup champ. His Ave Finish is 7.7. He’s run 432 Loop laps in the top fifteen - 90% and a stat best. Three top fives and five top tens go with a second best Ave Running Position of 8.1. Happy is the third best Driver Rated at 108.7. Harvick could win again.

Matt Kenseth could win his first. The #17 team has been coming on of late. Matt has the fourth best DR of 102.9 He’s good at Indy, with four top fives and five top tens. He runs up front as his Ave Running Position of 8.5 and 404 Laps in the top fifteen show.

Mark Martin has been telling anyone with a pen or microphone that he WILL win this weekend at the Brickyard. And he has a history at the track that shows he could pull it off. He suffers from the same weakness as Montoya though. Can his team measure up? If it can, Mark’s five top fives, nine top tens and fifth best Driver Rating of 102.9 says he has the stuff.

Beyond the Loop top five, the Hendrick threesome of Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr are contenders. So are 2008’s strongmen, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and Brian Vickers could do it too.

But Matt Kenseth is my choice. He’s paid the dues and has the pedigree, to join the exclusive company of Brickyard 400 winners. If you have to go outside of the establishment, take Carl Edwards.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Clint Boyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart