Vasser lands on his feet with Patrick Racing

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- When Jimmy Vasser was told last summer that he would not be retained as a driver for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, the 1996 Championship Auto Racing Teams champion never thought he would wind up in an equally promising position.

After all, Ganassi had built a dynasty of sorts in CART, winning four straight series championships from 1996 to 1999, and most of the other top teams already had their drivers set for the 2001 season.

By the time the season had ended in October, the 35-year-old Las Vegas resident still was without a ride for this season after a potential deal with team owner Morris Nunn had fallen through.

It wasn't until December that Vasser finally agreed to a multi-year contract to drive for Patrick Racing as a teammate to Roberto Moreno, who finished third in the championship last season.

Less than two months into his new job, Vasser said he has come to the realization that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

"Although the Ganassi team was my family and my home for a long time, it became a little bit more sterilized and very corporate and it became very big from the time that I joined the team in '95," Vasser said.

"The thing I find the most beautiful about the Patrick Racing teams is that its beauty is in its simplicity. It reminds me a lot of the Target/Chip Ganassi team back in the '96, '97 days ... and it's very family like."

Based upon that -- as well as the fact that Vasser is stepping into the car that finished second in the championship last season -- Vasser said he believes Patrick Racing has all the ingredients to be a championship contender this year.

"At the end of the day, I got the best ride that was available to anybody, in my mind," Vasser said.

"With (team owner) Pat Patrick and all the ingredients they have and all the success they had last year and adding the Toyota engine into the mix, I really believe this is going to be the best package out there. We are well positioned to win the championship-- there is no doubt about that."

Vasser concluded his six-year stint with Ganassi with a sixth-place finish in the championship. He posted one victory, the ninth of his CART career, and had 14 top-10 finishes, six top-five showings and four podium performances.

In several tests the past five weeks with his new team, Vasser said he has come to learn some things about himself that have rekindled his drive to succeed.

"There were a lot of things that have just been dormant inside of me that I realized because they are coming out," Vasser said. "I'm surprising myself with things I feel in the car and information that I have in my head that all comes from past experiences.

"I don't know why that is -- I don't know if it was the situation I was in (with Ganassi Racing) where you get a little bit complacent or you take things for granted. I expected things to be done a certain way and, for the most part, they were."

When he started with Patrick Racing at the end of the year, Vasser said he didn't know what to expect so he started sharing information with his crew "whether they needed to know it or not."

As a result of his relationship with his new team, Vasser said he believes Patrick Racing -- which finished second and third in the championship last year with Adrian Fernandez and Moreno -- has what it takes to make a legitimate run for the championship this season.

"I'm trying my very best to add to the Patrick Racing program things that are going to make it better," he said.

"I think when you get together with new people, you're both on your toes and you want to teach each other the things that you know and think it's really going to help take the team to a new level and also take me, as a driver, to a new level."