IndyCar Racing
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team History
Team owner Chip Ganassi and Target began their partnership in 1990 with the creation of a one-car IndyCar team. Since then, the Target team has amassed five championship titles, 56 wins, including an Indianapolis 500 victory, and 54 pole positions.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Target Team solidified its place in open- wheel racing history, as Chip Ganassi became the first owner to lead his team to four consecutive championships with Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997-98) and then with rookie driver Juan Montoya's championship in 1999. In 2000, Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Montoya blew away the competition in the Indianapolis 500, claiming the title for his team which had not raced at the famed Brickyard since 1995.
In 2003, following a switch from the CART Series to the Indy Racing League, Ganassi and Team Target driver Scott Dixon proved they could meet the challenge of a new series and new competition by capturing the 2003 IndyCar Series Championship. In 2004, defending series champion Dixon was joined by Darren Manning, and together the duo set the stage for a talented, stronger and more experienced team. Dixon highlighted the 2005 IRL season for Ganassi with a trip to the winner's circle at Watkins Glen International.
At the end of the 2005 season, the Target Team unveiled a long list of exciting changes to their IndyCar program for the season, including a new engine and chassis manufacturer package and a return to IndyCar Series competition with two Indy Racing League Champions, Scott Dixon (2003) and Dan Wheldon (2005).
Those enhancements paid immediate dividends for the 2006 season as both drivers were contenders in every race and ultimately for the IndyCar Series Championship, earning four wins, three pole positions and leading a combined 976 laps (of 2510).
The 2006 season came to an end in dramatic fashion as the Target team took the checkered flag in first and second place, the team's second 1-2 finish of the year, but fell just short of the IndyCar Series title as Wheldon's win tied him for first with Penske driver Sam Hornish with 475 points but then lost in the tiebreaker with two less wins (Hornish 4 - Wheldon 2). The win in the 2006 IndyCar season finale at Chicagoland Speedway, also marked the Target Team's historic 50th victory in open wheel racing, adding to an impressive resume.
In 2007, season highlights included three pole positions and six race victories, the team's best season win total since 1999, while the battle for the IndyCar Series title came down to the final race for a second straight year.
Scott Dixon led the last lap of the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway but the Target team's IndyCar Series Championship hopes ran dry just a few hundred feet from the checkered flag as the no.9 Target car ran out of fuel as it headed for Turn 4 and watched rival Dario Franchitti make the pass for the race win and Championship title.
The Target team and Dixon, who never fell out of contention all season long, finished the 2007 IndyCar season second in the points standings with 624 points, and fourth with Wheldon's 466 points.
The team now boasts five Championship titles with 25 wins on ovals, 16 victories on street courses and 15 on permanent road courses. The first 40 wins came in the CART Series while the following 16 victories were earned in the Indy Racing League.
Returning for his sixth IndyCar season in 2008 at the helm of the No.9 Target car, Scott Dixon who was disappointed with a runner-up finish in the 2007 Championship, is hoping to build on the consistency he showed this past season with six runner-up finishes, three consecutive victories and four total wins, as well as 13 top- five finishes and 291 laps led.
With five road/street courses on the schedule to compliment 11 ovals races, Dixon, who solidified himself as a road course specialist with his three consecutive wins at Watkins Glen and victories at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, is looking to add a few more trips to the winner's circle in 2008 in order to build on his ten career wins, eight pole positions and his 2003 IndyCar title, in order to once again vie for another Championship.
Dan Wheldon will also be back for his third season at the wheel of the no.10 Target Honda Dallara after earning a pole position and two victories in 2007. Wheldon is hoping that his sixth season of competition will see him adding onto an already impressive IndyCar career with 13 wins, including an Indianapolis 500 victory, five pole positions and his 2005 Championship title.
The 2008 IndyCar Series season features a 16-race schedule, with events on 11 ovals, three permanent road courses and two temporary street circuits and begins under the lights on Saturday, March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.