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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MAY 26: Team Owner Chip Ganassi reacts during the winner’s photo shoot for the NTT IndyCar Series 109th Running Of The Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Chip Ganassi\u2019s name has long carried weight in American motorsports, from IndyCar dominance to two decades of NASCAR<\/a> involvement. But if fans were hoping to see his organization return to stock car racing anytime soon, the 66-year-old team owner seems to have closed that door, at least for now.<\/p>\n Speaking at a Tuesday press conference, Chip Ganassi<\/a> addressed speculation about a possible NASCAR comeback, especially given Honda\u2019s reported interest in exploring the Cup Series<\/a> in the future. When asked directly by Motorsport.com<\/a> if he\u2019d be open to returning, Ganassi\u2019s response struck a careful but decisive tone.<\/p>\n \u201cAm I open to it? I wouldn\u2019t say \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no,\u2019 but what I can tell you is that I haven\u2019t had that conversation with Honda,\u201d Ganassi said<\/a>. \u201cI have never had that conversation with NASCAR, but I am also smart enough to never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking Back at Ganassi\u2019s NASCAR Legacy<\/p>\n For context, Ganassi competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2001 through 2021, collecting 20 race wins. His teams fielded cars for drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Larson<\/a>, and Jamie McMurray, who earned a memorable Daytona 500 victory for the organization in 2010, according to Lydia Mee of Motorsport<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, by mid-2021, Ganassi sold his Cup charters to Trackhouse Racing<\/a>, effectively ending his NASCAR chapter, per ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite his history in stock car racing, Ganassi emphasized that his focus remains squarely on IndyCar, where his team has thrived. With Alex Palou delivering multiple championships and Scott Dixon continuing to contend year after year, Ganassi\u2019s operation is firing on all cylinders. NASCAR, meanwhile, feels more like a closed book.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t stop reporters from pressing further, particularly about the possibility of Palou, currently one of IndyCar\u2019s brightest stars, transitioning into NASCAR competition someday. Ganassi admitted he has thought about the idea, but only in a passing manner.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re onto something there,\u201d he told reporters<\/a>. \u201cSo the answer is yes (I have considered how good Palou could be in NASCAR) because the formula has changed since I was there. It is a formula that does lend itself to the kind of racing we do and the kind of engineering we do, that we\u2019re good at. So the answer to that is yes, but I have not had any of those discussions or given it much thought.\u201d<\/p>\n Why a NASCAR Return Seems Unlikely<\/p>\n In other words, Ganassi sees how NASCAR\u2019s current era of spec cars and parity could theoretically suit his team\u2019s engineering strengths. But the logistical, financial, and strategic challenges of re-entering the sport appear too heavy for him to seriously entertain the notion.<\/p>\n Ganassi\u2019s hedged \u201cnever say never\u201d stance isn\u2019t unusual in racing. Team owners understand how quickly the motorsports landscape can shift with new manufacturers, sponsorship deals, or rule changes. Still, the overall tone of his remarks suggested contentment with where his organization stands today.<\/p>\n With Palou, Dixon, and rising talent like Marcus Armstrong, Ganassi Racing is firmly established as the benchmark in IndyCar. That success, combined with the complexities of NASCAR\u2019s current ownership market, makes a return improbable.<\/p>\n For fans who still associate Ganassi with stock cars, his comments serve as a reminder: while his NASCAR legacy is undeniable, the future of his racing empire is rooted firmly in open-wheel competition.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> Dogli Wilberforce is a sports writer covering football, basketball, MMA, and other trending sports stories for outlets including Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. He has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Image INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MAY 26: Team Owner Chip Ganassi reacts during the winner’s photo shoot for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-100761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}