In a bombshell announcement on Wednesday, Chip Ganassi sold his NASCAR team to Trackhouse Racing. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Trackhouse Racing will take over the operations at the end of the 2021 season.
Ganassi told reporters, “My NASCAR team was not for sale. Justin simply came to me with a great offer and an even better vision. As everyone knows, I care deeply for my employees, so selling to someone like Justin, who is part of the CGR family, made the reality of selling much easier.”
Chip Ganassi’s 20-year tenure at NASCAR will end after the 2021 season, which dates back to 2001 when he bought Felix Sabates SABCO Racing in 2001 and rebranded it as Chip Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates. He later partnered with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and rebranded the company to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates. The Earnhardt name was dropped in 2014, and the company rebranded as Chip Ganassi Racing.
At the press conference, Justin Marks, co-owner of Trackhouse Racing and former Chip Ganassi driver on buying CGR, said, “This process took several weeks & I want to thank Chip for being so open and candid with me every step of the journey. Chip has built an iconic motorsports empire, and the Ganassi brand is globally recognized as a winner in the auto racing industry.”
Justin Marks drove for Chip Ganassi in the Xfinity Series, where he got his first and only win at Mid-Ohio in 2016. Marks retired from NASCAR in 2018, and it an entrepreneur. Marks is known for his years in sports car racing. In 2004, he won seven times in the GT World Challenge America (4 wins) and the Rolex Sports Car Series (3 wins), along with eight podium finishes and thirteen top-ten finishes. He later teamed with Bill Auberlen with Turner Motorsport and won five races in nine starts.
Marks confirmed that the team will expand to a two-car team, with Suarez returning and the other driver will be named later. The team headquarters will remain in Nashville, but the racing operations will take over Chip Ganassi’s shop in Concord, NC. Currently, Trackhouse Racing has an alliance and operates out of Richard Childress Racing’s shop.
Chip Ganassi Racing will leave NASCAR with fourteen wins (Kyle Larson 6, Sterling Marlin 4, Kurt Busch 2, Jamie McMurray 1, Juan Pablo Montoya 1), 115 top-five, 377 top-ten finishes, and eighteen poles.
This year, Kurt Busch is currently in the playoff chase in 14th place. Ross Chastain sits in 22nd place with seventeen races remaining in the season, and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez is 18th in the points standings.
Chip Ganassi will continue to operate his other teams in Indianapolis with IMSA, NTT IndyCar Series, and Extreme E, an all-electric FIA sanction international off-road racing series.
