The Future of Dodge – Teams in NASCAR?
By Alex Herbst
Chip Ganassi Racing
One of the biggest racing organizations in the United States, if not the world, is Chip Ganassi Racing. With teams running in NASCAR, IndyCar, Global RallyCross, IMSA, and the World Endurance Championship, this team has their hands in all kinds of motorsports. However, recent developments on the sports car and IndyCar sides could lead to a connected change in manufacturer on their NASCAR teams.
Recently, the Ganassi organization became the home of the revitalized Ford GT effort at Le Mans and in the full IMSA and WEC schedules. Meanwhile, their IndyCar team will switch to Honda from Chevrolet engines in 2017, a move that was supposedly unrelated to the NASCAR teams. However, for how long can Chevrolet be happy knowing CGR runs with other manufacturers to much success against their vehicles in other series?
If the move to Dodge is in the cards, it wouldn’t be the first time that Chip’s squad has raced them. When Ganassi purchased an 80 percent stake in the team from Felix Sabates in 2001, they made the switched from Chevy to Dodge. This coincided with Dodge’s return to the sport after fifteen years.
Hopefully Dodge can return in less time, and with just as much success with teams like Ganassi in the future.