Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Ganassi expects big things from ex-Vegan Renna

Chip Ganassi has an eye for talented young drivers.

During his 16 years as a team owner in CART and now the IRL, Ganassi has been responsible for identifying and developing such drivers as Juan Montoya, Bruno Junqueira and Scott Dixon. Montoya won a CART championship with Ganassi in 1999 and Dixon is tied for the IRL points lead going into the final race of the season. Junqueira, now with CART's Newman-Haas Racing, is second in points in that series with three races remaining.

Ganassi raised more than a few eyebrows in the open-wheel racing community last week when he tabbed little-known Tony Renna, a former Las Vegas resident, to drive for him next season in the IRL.

But Ganassi said he sees some of the same traits in Renna, 26, that he has seen in some of the other young drivers he has developed through the years.

"So often in this business, you see these young people that have all the prerequisites, if you will, but haven't necessarily been given the right tools in their toolbox -- and I think Tony's one of those guys," Ganassi said Tuesday.

"He has been in and around good teams and he has always been that platoon guy who just hasn't had a breakout kind of year and I think he's ripe for that right now."

Renna will team with Dixon next year and replace Tomas Scheckter in the No. 10 Target Toyota/G Force. Scheckter is leaving Target/Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of this season and is expected to be named Saturday as the driver to replace Sam Hornish Jr. with Panther Racing. Hornish is moving from Panther Racing to Team Penske next season.

"We're fans of Tomas and he's done a great job for us, we just couldn't come to an agreement that we were happy with," Ganassi said of Scheckter's departure.

In addition to winning the 1999 CART championship with Montoya, Ganassi also help guide Las Vegas resident Jimmy Vasser (1996) and Alex Zanardi (1997 and 1998) to CART championships.

Despite a rocky early season, Dixon is poised to hand Ganassi his first IRL championship.

Dixon is tied with Helio Castroneves for the series points lead going into Sunday's Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Tony Kanaan is seven points behind Dixon and Castroneves and Hornish is fourth, 19 points out of the lead. Gil de Ferran remains mathematically eligible for the championship but trails the leaders by 30 points.

Michel Jourdain Jr., who is third in the championship, heads the native contingent that also includes Adrian Fernandez, Mario Dominguez and rookies Rodolfo Lavin, Luis Diaz and Roberto Gonzalez.

If Kinser, a 17-time WoO champion, can win the next four feature events, Kinser could earn his 500th career victory in the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Nov. 1.

"I really haven't been paying any attention to that," Kinser said of the looming milestone. "It doesn't really mean anything to me at all right now; I'm just trying to get out and run as good as we can night to night. If we continue to run like we have been doing, we will eventually make it. Right now, we are trying to win a championship and win races."

Kinser leads Danny Lasoski by 100 points in the WoO standings going into this weekend's event at Texas Motor Speedway.

Troy Reiger of Dinuba, Calif., won the 40-lap Supermodified Racing League main event last Saturday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Salt Lake City's Lonnie Adamson didn't qualify for the feature race but already had clinched the 2003 SRL championship. Larry Gerchman of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., won the IMCA Modified season finale and clinched the 2003 IMCA Modified track championship. Lee Hatch of Covina, Calif., won the 99-lap Mechanix Wear Speed Trucks main event and Dale Dlugos of Las Vegas captured the 25-lap Thunder Roadsters feature for his first main-event win of the season.

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