Ganassi announces he’s taking Vasser, Montoya to Indy

Monday, Feb. 28, 2000 | 10:27 a.m.

CART team owner Chip Ganassi ended months of speculation this morning when he formally announced he would campaign drivers Jimmy Vasser and Juan Montoya this May in the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500.

It will mark the first time Target/Chip Ganassi Racing has competed in the Indy 500 since 1995, when Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George formed the rival Indy Racing League.

Ganassi personally handed his Indy 500 entry forms to George during a press conference this morning in Indianapolis.

"When CART left two weeks open in the May schedule, we decided the time was right to give our drivers, our team and our sponsors a chance to experience the Indianapolis 500 -- the biggest auto race in the world," Ganassi said.

"Our team has set quite a few records the past few years and I'm looking forward to entering the history books here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

Target/Chip Ganassi racing has won the past four CART championships, with Vasser in 1996, Alex Zanardi in 1997 and 1998 and Montoya this past season.

Vasser, a Las Vegas resident, said he was looking forward to returning to the Indy 500 after a four-year absence.

"I have missed racing in the Indianapolis 500 a great deal," Vasser said. "Although we have been very busy on our CART circuit, (the Indy 500) has been sorely missed by me and the rest of my teammates.

"I feel fortunate, too, to be driving for a team like Target/Chip Ganassi and having the opportunity. I know a lot of (CART) teams probably wish to do the same, but they probably don't have the resources we have."

Target will remain the primary sponsor on Vasser's and Montoya's IRL cars, and Budweiser has signed on as an associate sponsor for the Indy 500. The team will run G-Force chassis and Oldsmobile Aurora engines in the 500.

Although there has been widespread speculation that Ganassi would enter Vasser and Montoya in the April 22 Las Vegas 500 IRL race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to prepare for the Indy 500, Ganassi called that speculation premature.

"In terms of Las Vegas, it's up in the air right now," Ganassi said. "If you were to ask me today, I'd say, no, we're not going to be at any other early race like Vegas, but it's not out of the question."

Ganassi said Vasser and Montoya will test their new IRL cars at LVMS on March 29, and will make a final determination about racing here in April after that test.

Ganassi joined Derrick Walker as the only other CART owner to commit to competing in this year's Indianapolis 500. Walker fields cars for Shinji Nakano in CART and 19-year-old Sarah Fisher in the IRL.