NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 30, 2021

Justin Marks, Founder, Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Chip Ganassi, CEO Chip Ganassi Racing – Teleconference Transcript:

NOTE: On June 30, 2021, Justin Marks, Founder of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, announced the purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation. The transfer of all CGR NASCAR assets to Trackhouse Racing will take place following the NASCAR Cup Series final race of the 2021 season on November 7, 2021. Trackhouse Racing will field two full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries in 2022. Daniel Suarez, driver of the Trackhouse Racing No. 99 Chevrolet, will continue with the organization, with the second driver to be named at a later date.

TELECONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: Justin, thank you so much for taking some time with us. Big announcement, big day. I know most of us were watching on the social media channels as well as NASCAR.com. We have a ton of questions for you. We’re going to get right into those.

Q. I’m curious, did you just cold call Chip? What was that first conversation? Were you just fishing?
JUSTIN MARKS: Well, I thought about it for a few weeks before I worked up the courage to just do it. I mean, I think sometimes I think there’s a lesson here, and sometimes you’ve just got to make the call. That’s what I did. I called him and I said, look, I’m in the process right now or at a point right now where I’m trying to identify opportunities to grow in this space and to create a great future for Trackhouse, and I just asked, that includes charters, that includes a potential acquisition of an entire operation, and if that’s a conversation you’d be interested in having, then I’ll come to Pittsburgh and we’ll have an adult conversation about it.

Q. Was he interested in the conversation right away or did further talks have to ‑‑
JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, I think he was interested in hearing what I had to say. We’ve known each other for some time now, and obviously I raced for them, and we have a great relationship. We always got along. I said, if you’re willing to talk, I’ll fly up there and we’ll sit in your office and talk, and he was very willing to do that. I think maybe he didn’t know how serious it was, but I was going to come to him and he was interested in learning. We had a great conversation that day and started the process.

Q. I’ve got to ask how much did you pay?
JUSTIN MARKS: I can’t talk about that. These are a transaction between two private companies and obviously confidentiality in the agreement.

Q. Justin, Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch, are they among the potential drivers or are they kind of considered free agents even more now? What are you kind of looking for in that second driver?
JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, we have to obviously go through that process and have that conversation, but at the onset those two are the top two that would be under consideration. Like I said, it’s not just drivers, the fact that there’s a lot of great people there, and we want to try to retain as much of that talent as we can moving into the Next‑Gen era. I think when it comes to the discussion of drivers that’s certainly where we’re going to start is with those two.

Q. Will you have any sort of alliance with anybody? You use the Hendrick ECR package now; would there be any change to engines going forward?
JUSTIN MARKS: I don’t anticipate a change at all. A lot of the work that has to be done from here over the next couple months is understanding very intimately the Chip Ganassi Racing operations and how they manage different business units within the company and how that stacks up with where Trackhouse is at right now. Obviously, the relationship with Chevrolet is very important. We have a great working relationship with RCR. We have to give them the respect first of exploring with them what a partnership moving into the future looks like, but those are all things we’re going to be considering in short order.

Q. During the last two months was there ever a time where you thought this wasn’t going to happen?
JUSTIN MARKS: I mean, I was hopeful. But you never know. You never really know. There was a lot of things to work through, a lot of details to work through and a lot of conversations to have with Chip. I felt confident because Chip’s enthusiasm, I believe, grew through the process, and I felt like we were just continuing to get to a better and better place that was going to work for both of us. This process started early enough in the year that I was pretty committed to seeing it through and not really working on anything else until I knew if this was a go or not.

Q. Obviously, a big day; would this have worked as well as it seems it is without your prior relationship with Chip? And to follow up on that, is this an opportunity for you because you’ve worked with him in the past to really be able to carry on the legacy that he started over the last 20 years?
JUSTIN MARKS: I would agree with both those sentiments. I think that he was willing to listen to what I had to say because we’ve worked together in the past and because we’ve had a great working relationship. It helps in anything you do in life with Chip to have run for him, which I was lucky enough to be able to do, so I think that obviously is a part of it, and yeah, like I said just a few minutes ago, my career and his career, my life as a fan has been linked in a way to CGR off and on for 20 years. I think this is a great motorsports story, I think the narrative here is great, and I think it makes a lot of sense that this is the point we’re at today.

Q. When you look at kind of the path that you’ve taken with Trackhouse, this has all happened relatively quickly over about the last 18 months. Was that always your plan from a business standpoint or is this kind of an escalation compared to what your original plan was?
JUSTIN MARKS: This is a condensing of the time frame for sure, but I always did anticipate this being the trajectory of the company in some cadence. But as the landscape ‑‑ as the charter landscape kind of heated up a little bit, it obviously was important from day one of the year to explore these options because we were leasing our charter. While this is much more than just the acquisition of a charter, it certainly was something that’s been important to be pursuing the whole time. But yeah, this happened very quickly, but I’m happy it happened quickly because now we can just focus on building for the future.

Q. You’ve been very vocal in your frustration about the charter market and missing out on some others, and recently it seemed like you were trying to drive the price down with some of your comments. Were you just bluffing at that point? What was behind all that?
JUSTIN MARKS: No, I mean, I’ve probably been a little too vocal maybe on that. I think the only reason why I had some of those comments was because some frustration because I was a bidder on no less than four charters before this point, and I know what those charters traded at. But things are changing quickly in the economy of this sport.
This deal was not really done and papered until a week ago, so I felt confident that we were going to get it done. There was no strategy or bluffing on my part. It just was me trying to get a handle on what is the charter worth, and I think where I ended up is that a charter is worth what people are willing ‑‑ what an individual is willing to pay for, and every transaction is different and works differently for both sides.

No gamesmanship on my side, really. I think I probably just had some frustration that I was working so hard and investing so much of my time into Trackhouse and was continually losing out these charters, so it’s nice to get one closed.

Q. Now that you do have a pair of charters, your other comments about how it was maybe potentially possible to run without one, do you still feel that way or would teams be wary to try something like that?
JUSTIN MARKS: No, I do. I think it’s possible. I think you’re obviously it’s more expensive to run without one and you’re taking the risk of missing a marquee race like the Daytona 500. I spoke from our perspective in that I’ve got too many positive things happening and too much belief in Trackhouse that if I was not able to get something like this done, I was going to pack it up and go home. That just was not an option for me. I think every owner is different. I think that every enterprise is set up differently and everybody has different risk tolerances. For me I was willing to race without one, and I believe there are people out there that might still believe that way, too.

Q. This original idea of going to Chip, with the way the market was and the way the situation was with looking at charters and growing Trackhouse, did you view this as like a Hail Mary, or is this just a very precise and sharp business venture that any capital venture would look at at an organization to potentially work a deal or take over?
JUSTIN MARKS: I don’t consider it a Hail Mary because the Hail Mary you throw the ball and you pray and you don’t have a lot of control after that point. I believe that there were a lot of parts of this transaction for both sides that made a lot of sense for both sides. Ambitious, yes, 100 percent; very, very ambitious. But Hail Mary is suggesting that there’s things that are out of your control, and Chip and I did work very, very hard together over the past eight weeks to try to get to a place that worked for both of us, and we did. It was calculated, but it was ambitious for sure.

Q. Obviously two cars now ‑‑ look, you can have as many as four, so are you done, or is there a hope of expansion and growing to four, three or four cars by next year or within the next couple years?
JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, I think growth needs to be managed. I know that might sound weird in this moment because we’re only 19 races in and announcing this transaction, but I don’t want to get over my skis, either. I think that there’s a lot of unknowns coming around this new car. We have to learn a lot about what operationally it’s going to take to field the Next‑Gen car successfully, and I have a lot of ambition and a lot of passion and vision for this company, but I’m not going to risk the momentum we have right now and so many good things ahead of us by trying to do too much too quickly. I think we can grow beyond two, but that’s by no means the imminent plans for the company.

Q. As you noted you’ve come in in a short time. We’ve seen what Denny Hamlin has done with Michael Jordan, and also Matt Kaulig, so there’s certainly a lot of new ownership group. Is it a case the new kids on the block are changing the sport? I’d say Matt came in with a really bold thing, you’ve done something very bold here today that’s making a major change throughout the sport. How are new owners impacting the sport in a different way than the old guard?
JUSTIN MARKS: Well, I listen to all that, and I think where my mind goes is this is proof of concept for NASCAR’s vision for the future. It’s proof of concept for the new car. This is exactly what they were trying to do with this new car. The business model of the sport made the barrier of entry for new ownership just higher and higher and higher every single year and it was going to take something like this to ignite a movement like this. I think we’re proving that there’s a lot of desire to get into this sport, just the mechanism to do that has just been too high of a mountain for a lot of people to climb.

But I think the promise of the new car and the model of the new car is that opportunity for a lot of owners. Denny and I talk about this, and I think it’s a common theme among a number of the new owners in that this is the opportunity to come in when the sport is in a big transition, period of transition, and I think the days ahead for the sport and for new ownership and these new teams are really, really bright, and I’m very fortunate to be a part of it.

Q. I have some nuts‑and‑bolts questions. From the RCR perspective I know that they kind of consider you guys like a third car. Are you anticipating that there will be ‑‑ I guess first of all, did they know that this was a possibility? How did they find out?
JUSTIN MARKS: We notified them today. It was very important for Chip and I both to keep this as quiet as possible but make sure that we notified our close partners before they read about it on the internet just out of respect and obviously everything that we’ve been working on together. So yeah, I think that there’s a lot of paths forward with an RCR relationship. I think this shouldn’t be viewed as well, Trackhouse is now fully autonomous and on our own because these companies have developed some very valuable intellectual property and engineering resources and data sets and things like that.

We’re going to be having those discussions over the next few weeks to sort of see what that looks like in the future, and I anticipate there certainly being a relationship in some form that carries forward.

Q. So, a chance that you would absorb some RCR employees and Ganassi employees? How do you envision that working?
JUSTIN MARKS: Look, the 99 team is running really well right now and building some cohesiveness. I think it would be important for us to try to keep that group together. There’s also a lot of really, really talented and passionate people at Chip Ganassi Racing today, and it would be our goal to try to retain as many of those people as possible moving forward. With that being said, CGR has two cars to try to get into the playoffs this year, and we have one, too, so we wouldn’t be a minimal transaction as we work in the background on this.

Q. Will you be taking any Chip Ganassi management as part of this?
JUSTIN MARKS: Like I said, there’s a lot of really great people that have been working there for a long time that know how that place operates, and I’m looking forward to learning from them. We’ll go through that process, but I’m looking to ‑‑ it is my hope to retain as many people as possible for sure.

Q. You said that next year for sure you’d be operating out of Concord, but it sounds like is the possibility open that you guys could move competition operations to Nashville in ’23?
JUSTIN MARKS: I think anything is possible, yeah. I think there’s a lot of opportunity in that town. I think that we certainly want to have some sort of a presence there. We’ve got a lot of momentum in the market right now, we see with our Tootsies sponsorship from Nashville and a lot of stakeholders that I’ve been getting to know well, and the INDYCAR Grand Prix that’s coming. There is a lot of opportunity for our company there, but it is for sure the anticipation we’re going to operate out of the existing Concord building, headquarters for 2022 and then we’ll start looking to the future beyond that.

Q. Obviously Chip said a couple of times that you made him an offer that he couldn’t refuse. I’m wondering how many counteroffers did that take? Was it the opening negotiation was like right in the ballpark and he took it or was it a lot of back and forth?
JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, it would be inappropriate I think for me to comment on exactly how that went just out of respect for Chip and out of respect for the process. Obviously, these are two business owners that negotiated with each other and got to a place that worked for both of us. I’m going to leave it at that.

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Chip Ganassi. Big announcement today for you and your team as well as Justin, so we’re going to get right into questions for you.

Q. Chip, can you characterize what it was like when you sold it Justin said maybe a week ago? Was it emotional? Was it a happy day, a sad day? Just another day of being a business owner?
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, good question. I think it was all of the above. You reflect on 20 years of being in a particular business, in a particular sport, and there’s good things and bad things when you look back on all of it. But I’d say it was generally a positive thing. I felt best about what Justin was saying about our team and our people going forward, and that’s important to us. I think that made it a little more palatable, sure.

Q. Curious, I know that there have already been some changes in property and things of that nature of where the shop is physically located at. How does that work with Justin keeping the shop for next year and then possibly moving on to another location permanent for them?
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I think that’s all way up in the air yet, to talk to Justin about that. I think he’s taken over the lease there, so that’ll be up to him what he wants to do. You’ll have to ask him that.

Q. With your drivers that you currently have now, how did that conversation go?
CHIP GANASSI: Both of our drivers, Kurt and Ross, were professionals and have been very professional about the whole process.

Q. I’m curious when Justin called you out of the blue and said he was interested in buying your team, what was your reaction?
CHIP GANASSI: You know, at first it surprised me a little bit, but I have to say that after thinking about it for a while, it was very much ‑‑ it reminded me of about 20 years ago when I was talking to Felix Sabates about getting involved in NASCAR. I felt like there was a lot of young, energetic thought being put into what Justin was saying, and I think, like I said, with all the new blood that seems to be coming into the sport now with Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin and maybe Keselowski and Tony Stewart has got a team and Jeff Gordon getting back involved and all these sort of things, the sport is ready for some new young blood and a new group of ‑‑ we always talk about a they generation of drivers, and I think you’re going to see a new generation of owners now, and I think it’s a great thing for the sport.

Q. This new blood, aren’t you a little young to be moving out for new blood?
CHIP GANASSI: I’m 63 years old. I’ve been doing this for –

Q. The other guys are 83 and 81.
CHIP GANASSI: You’ll have to ask them that.

Q. This charter market, it just seems to be going bonkers even compared to what it was a few years ago. Has that surprised you at all? Did you see this coming?
CHIP GANASSI: Not really. I didn’t talk to anybody else about the sale of charters or the sale of our business. I only spoke to Justin. You hear a lot of talk around the charters, but I wasn’t really listening to much of that. Yeah, I mean, I think it’s ‑‑ I think in some sense the charter is doing what it was meant to do, and in terms of helping the ownership value their businesses a little differently or better, I think it’s working. I think the system is working like it’s supposed to.

Q. Why now? The new car, everybody is saying, hey, it’s going to be more affordable for teams. If that’s the case, why not try to stick around and see what happens or something?
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I don’t know. I’ve been sticking around for a long time. I enjoy the sport. I am not getting out of the sport. I’m still in motor racing with three other teams and in IMSA and in INDYCARs and Extreme E. So I’m still heavily involved in motorsports. I’m not getting out of anything.

Q. I’m sure you might have heard Justin talking about it, but he’s got the relationship with RCR and it sounds like he’s going to probably bring some employees from there and then absorb some of yours. Do you understand or do you have an agreement with Justin how many of your employees he’ll keep or about how many will stay on?
CHIP GANASSI: I think he’s said it all, but he wants to interview everybody at our race shop and talk to them and hopes to retain a lot of those people.

Q. As far as your management team, I know Doug Duchardt kind of oversees everything that’s based there. Will the hierarchy of your executive team sort of remain the same ‑‑
CHIP GANASSI: Yes, I think the hierarchy of our team is going to remain the same, yes. There’s a group of people that are not leaving Chip Ganassi Racing.

Q. While I understand financial specifics can’t be revealed, could this sale have been completed in the same clean process without the charter system or does this prove how valuable this system has become?
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, again, I don’t think the charter system is the main thrust of the sale. I mean, I think, sure, it’s a piece of it, but it’s also ‑‑ it was also making sure that this business gets put in the right hands for somebody that had ‑‑ somebody that has a vision and has an idea what they want to do going forward and has a plan and has the money to do that. That’s probably first and foremost of what brought the deal together.

Q. Justin Marks is a guy who raced for you in the Xfinity Series; what has your relationship been like him starting with that period? What did you see in him as a driver that maybe helped you want to ‑‑ convinced you to maybe do this, sell a team to him?
CHIP GANASSI: Well, I don’t know that anything I saw in him as a driver translates into I want to sell the business to him or not. In a driver we saw a guy that could obviously win races, and that’s what he did. I think we had an ongoing rapport that opened the door to this transaction.

Q. You talked about the new generation of owners, kind of like the new generation of drivers. I’m just curious, how do you see this new generation of owners making an impact in the sport now, and how do you think they might make an impact in the future moving forward?
CHIP GANASSI: Well, I think anytime you bring a new group of people in with new fresh ideas, some of those things will get implemented and some won’t. But it’s fresh blood, and fresh blood is good for any industry. I think NASCAR positioned itself well to have fresh blood and all the things that come along with that.

Q. How do you look back at the 20 years you’ve been in NASCAR? How do you look back and reflect on them? How would you like to be remembered in NASCAR for your accomplishment?
CHIP GANASSI: Like I said, we won some big races. We lost some big runs, too, you know, so it’s unfortunate when you’ve been in this business so long, you more remember the ones you lost than the ones you won. But we’ve had our ups and downs, like any other business and like any other team, and I think we’ve come through it with our head held high, so we’re fine. As we go forward, we’re still in racing and I’m out of NASCAR now. I’ve been in and out of the series before; you never know. The right opportunity comes along, I might be back in. For right now, we’re going to turn things over to Justin here at the end of the season and then let him run with it, and I look forward to helping him make it a success.

Q. You mentioned how Kurt and Ross have been professional about this. When were you able to tell them and the team that you had sold it?
CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, today.

Q. You seem very at peace with this decision. I’m curious if this were to happen two or three years ago, if Justin or anybody would have come to you at that point, would you have been as comfortable selling the team or was this just the right time?
CHIP GANASSI: Good question. I don’t even know that I have an answer for that one. Like I said, the team wasn’t for sale, and it’s just someone called and wanted to buy it, and I had to take a look at it. I don’t think there’s any right time or wrong time in terms of what was going on. I can tell you I wasn’t thinking about selling the team three years ago and I wasn’t thinking about selling the team three months ago. It’s just kind of the way things happened.

Q. Do you feel that going forward obviously the business transaction is one thing, but as far as the legacy this team has and that you leave, do you feel that Justin is the right person to kind of carry that forward and build on it considering the past relationship that you guys have had together over the years in racing?
CHIP GANASSI: I think Justin ‑‑ I don’t think it’s important for Justin to carry on the Chip Ganassi legacy. I think it’s important for Justin to develop his own legacy. I’m not going to feel one way or the other about him carrying on the legacy of our team. I hope he keeps an eye on some of our great people we have. Outside of that, he should build a legacy of Trackhouse Racing. The legacy of Chip Ganassi Racing in NASCAR is what it is, and I don’t think Justin has anything to do with that. I think he needs to build his own brand, and I think he will.

Q. Are you content with that legacy that you’re leaving in NASCAR?
CHIP GANASSI: Absolutely.

Q. I want to ask a little bit further details of what was in the purchase. Does it include your affiliation with Hendrick Motorsports because right now Trackhouse has an affiliation with RCR?
CHIP GANASSI: I hate to tell you this but I’m not going to discuss any deal points. Sorry.

Q. You’re one that’s known for your message of I like winners, and with the way Trackhouse has performed in their first season, including the capability of leading laps, is this a move that can put Trackhouse in Victory Lane next season with the new Next‑Gen car?
CHIP GANASSI: I sure hope so. I sure hope so.

Q. When you were giving the speech during the press conference earlier you mentioned the weekly grind that is required to pretty much take part in NASCAR. How much of a factor did that play into you making this decision?
CHIP GANASSI: I don’t know. I just think that the weekly grind is what it is. I signed up for that 20 years ago. Certainly 20 years of doing that, when you look at the schedule, I’m only going to be freed up a couple three, four weekends more, so it’s not like a big change in my life. We still have plenty of races to be involved in. But I think ‑‑ I do like the idea of maybe not having to think about changing over to the new car and all that goes along with that. It’s certainly a relief in some sense, but I’ll certainly miss it, as well.
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Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Road America

NASCAR makes history again this weekend as the Cup Series (NCS) visits yet another unfamiliar location in Road America. Despite no NCS action there since 1956, Jack Roush’s team does have experience in Wisconsin, as does Chris Buescher. Ryan Newman will run in the TransAm race this weekend as part of an effort to gain more experience.

Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip
Sunday, July 4 at 2:30 p.m. ET
NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

• Ryan Newman, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang
• Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Pocono Recap, Road America Preview

• Buescher finished 20th in the first of two races at Pocono, earning himself the pole for Sunday’s race after the top-20 invert, before finishing 19th in race two.
• Newman suffered damage in a spin in Saturday’s race to finish 37th, then followed up with a 22nd-place run on Sunday.
• Fastenal – whose headquarters is located just over three hours from Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, will sport a patriotic scheme in celebration of July 4th weekend at Road America.
• Kohler – Newman’s anchor partner for 2021 – will also celebrate its home race this weekend as Kohler, Wisconsin, is just a short trip to Elkhart Lake.

Road America Format

This event will mark the 12th season of NASCAR racing at Road America, but it will be the first for the NCS since 1956. The Xfinity Series has made Elkhart Lake a stop on its circuit since 2010.
The Cup stars are on track for the first time Saturday for a 50-minute practice session at 12:35 p.m. ET, with qualifying set for raceday morning at 11:05 a.m. ET.

Roush Victorius in First Xfinity Race at Road America
In the Xfinity Series’ first-ever race at Road America back in 2010, Carl Edwards won the pole, led 35 laps and went on to win the 50-lap race. Jack Roush had four cars in that race alone, including Colin Braun in the No. 16, Paul Menard in the No. 98 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in the No. 6.

Tale of the Tape

Overall at Road America, Jack Roush has 24 starts all-time with the lone Edwards win, six top-10s and three top fives. 18 different drivers have taken the wheel for Roush at Road America, most recently Ty Majeski (No. 60), Conor Daly (No. 6) and Ryan Reed (No. 16) during RFR’s last Xfinity stint at the track.

Buescher Wins ARCA at Elkhart

In Buescher’s lone start at the 4.04-mile track back in 2013, he won the ARCA Series race, leading the final lap after starting sixth in the No. 99 for Roulo Brothers Racing.

Roush Fenway Road America Wins
2010 Edwards Xfinity

Road America
Sunday, July 4, 2021
4.048-Mile Road Course
2:30 PM ET
Location: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
TV: Fox logo
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (20 of 36)
Radio: SiriusXM, PRN

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 2nd

No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

OH SO CLOSE: On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Larson entered the 325-mile event searching for his fourth consecutive points-paying victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Leading with one corner to go, a flat tire on the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE sent Larson into the wall. The 28-year-old driver was still able to finish ninth while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman secured the victory. On Sunday in a backup car, Larson started from the rear of the field and saved enough fuel at the end of the 350-mile race to finish second.

CLOSING IN: Following the season’s 11th race at Kansas Speedway in May, Larson ranked ninth in the driver standings, 144 markers behind the leader. In eight points-paying events since, Larson has scored eight top-10s, including three wins and four second-place finishes, for a 2.5-average result. In that span, he has moved up seven spots to second in the standings and now trails the leader by only two points.

FIRST TIMER: In June at Sonoma Raceway, Larson won both stages and led 57 of 92 laps en route to his first Cup Series road course victory. Overall, he has 17 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with three top-five finishes, six top-10s and four stage victories (second-most all-time). In sports cars, Larson competed in the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014 through 2016 and was victorious in 2015.

NEARLY HALF: Larson has finished first or second in nine of 19 (47%) NASCAR Cup Series races this season. He won at Nashville Superspeedway, Sonoma, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway while posting second-place finishes at Pocono, Circuit of The Americas, Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in June.

TOP OF THE BOARD: Through 19 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (four), second-place finishes (five), stage wins (12), playoff points (32), top-five finishes (11) and laps led (1,441). He is tied for most pole positions (one) and most top-10s (14).

BEEN THERE BEFORE: In June 2013, Larson competed in the NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America. After qualifying 13th, the Elk Grove, California, native drove the No. 32 entry to a seventh-place finish at the Wisconsin track.

SUMMER ROAD TRIP: This week, Larson will participate in several Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek events. On Monday night at Lincoln Speedway, Larson finished third and, on Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway, he finished first. On Wednesday night, he will race at Port Royal Speedway and on Thursday evening at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland.

QUICK WORK: At 13.61 seconds, the No. 5 pit crew owns the quickest average time for four-tire pit stops in 2021. The over-the-wall crew is comprised of gasman Brandon Harder, jackman Brandon Johnson, tire carrier R.J. Barnette and tire changers Donnie Tasser (front) and Calvin Teague (rear).

YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealership locations nationwide.

WE’RE HIRING: Hendrick Automotive Group is hiring 300-plus technicians at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Interested people can apply at HendrickCars.com.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 25 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 6th

No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

ROAD COURSE REPORT: Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, is set to make his 16th NASCAR Cup Series start on a road course this weekend at Road America. He has garnered six wins (2018, 2019 –Watkins Glen; 2019, 2020 – Charlotte ROVAL; 2020 – the DAYTONA Road Course; 2021 – COTA), eight top-five finishes, 10 top-10s and a total of 302 laps led at road courses. In 2021 on road courses, Elliott has led the most laps of all drivers (62).

GOOD COMPANY: Elliott’s six road course wins tie him with NASCAR legends Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for the third-most all-time road course wins behind Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight).

NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS: Elliott’s wins account for six of the last 10 road course victories. He is the youngest driver to have six road course wins and he remains the youngest road course winner at 22 years, 8 months, 8 days. Elliott has led laps in the last eight road course races, the Cup Series’ longest active streak. The driver of the No. 9 also holds the best average finish (8.73) of active drivers and the fifth-best all-time average of drivers with at least five starts. Elliott has also garnered the most stage wins (six) of all time at road courses.

GUSTAFSON ON ROAD COURSES: Crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 38th road course race from atop the pit box this Sunday at Road America. In his previous 37 starts, the Florida native has garnered six wins, the most of active crew chiefs, 12 top-five finishes, 18 top-10s and 359 laps led.

ELLIOTT IN ELKHART LAKE: While Sunday will be Elliott’s first Cup start at Road America, he has already logged laps in two races at the 4.048-mile course in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In those starts at Road America, he earned two top-five finishes – both fourth-place results – led 23 laps and averaged a starting position of 7.0 and finishing position of 4.0.

MID-YEAR RUNDOWN: The Cup Series is officially past the halfway point of the 2021 season and Elliott has one win, eight top-five finishes (four of which are runner-up results), 10 top-10s and has led a total of 129 laps. He has also spent 1,613 laps inside the top five and 3,003 laps running in the top 10. Elliott currently sits sixth in the driver point standings, 128 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.

SPEEDY STOPS: Heading into Road America, the No. 9 team owns the second-best average time for four-tire pit stops at 13.7 seconds through 19 races. The NAPA pit crew is comprised of jackman T.J. Semke, gasman John Gianninoto, tire carrier Jared Erspamer and tire changers Chad Avrit and Nick O’Dell.

NAPA KNOW HOW: The No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will don the familiar blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme this weekend at Road America. The Atlanta-based company is serving as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for 25 NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 23 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 3rd

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

BEST YEAR YET: While it’s only halfway into the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron is having his best year yet at the highest level of competition. So far, Byron has collected one win (Homestead-Miami Speedway), eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10s all while leading 230 laps and collecting two stage wins. His eight top-five results are the most the 23-year-old driver has had in a season at the Cup level and his 14 top-10s tie his previous best in a season, as well.

HALFWAY HOME: After hitting the halfway point in the 2021 season, Byron is coming off a top-three result from Saturday’s race at Pocono Raceway and a 12th-place finish on Sunday after a fuel mileage gamble to score the victory didn’t pan out. However, after 19 races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native continues to be consistent every week. He’s spent 3,815 laps running in the top 10 – the second-most in the series – and 2,118 laps in the top five – the third-most throughout the field. Byron maintains the second-best average running position in the Cup Series of 8.31 and improved his average finish to 9.9, allowing him to maintain the third position in the point standings.

RETURNING TO ROAD AMERICA: While Road America will mark a new experience for some, both Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle have been to the Wisconsin-based road course one prior time in their NASCAR careers. Fugle called the shots on top of the pit box at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015 while Byron’s one start also came in the Xfinity Series in 2017, where he raced to a sixth-place finish.

ROAD COURSE RESULTS: Despite limited road course racing in his background, Byron has stepped up his road course skills during his time in the Cup Series, finishing in the top 10 in three of the last six races. In four of the last eight road course events, Byron has led the field, including leading the most laps during last year’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. In fact, Byron led the second-most laps on road courses during the 2020 season.

ROAD COURSE RUDY: While Fugle may have limited experience at Road America, the Livonia, New York, native is no stranger to success on road courses. Fugle and Byron already have three road course starts together in 2021 – two at the DAYTONA Road Course and at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). For the Clash exhibition race, the No. 24 raced to a solid fifth-place result, but bad luck struck the team for their return trip two weeks later, resulting in a 33rd-place finish after Byron suffered a flat tire with two laps to go. While battling the rainy weather at COTA, Byron was running inside the top five before suffering damage from a competitor. The No. 24 team was able to rally to 11th before the race was called early due to the conditions. Aside from those three road course starts in the Cup Series, Fugle has seven other road course races under his belt, all coming in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In those seven starts, he has one win (Erik Jones, 2015), three top-five finishes and five top-10s. One of those seven truck starts was with Byron and the duo raced to a 10th-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2016.

LIBERTY U: Byron will climb behind the wheel of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE this weekend when the Cup Series takes on Road America for the first time. Redesigned for the 2021 season, the new paint scheme features a white base with navy flames and red accents, the Liberty University No. 24 will be sure to stand out on track. Liberty University has a long history with Byron starting back in 2014 in the late model ranks. Liberty University has been Training Champions for Christ since it was founded in 1971. Located in the mountains of Central Virginia, Liberty is a liberal arts institution with 17 colleges and schools that offers more than 600 degree programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, on campus and online. Working on an undergraduate degree in communications, Byron is in his junior year at Liberty University through its online program. For a better look at Byron’s new Liberty University paint scheme, click here.

48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 11th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

WINNER, WINNER: On Saturday, Alex Bowman claimed his third victory of the 2021 season after leading 16 laps at Pocono Raceway. After starting second on the front row on lap 112, Bowman was quickly pushed to the lead and maintained that position until teammate Kyle Larson got around him 15 laps later. Bowman settled into second for the final three laps until Larson had a tire go down and Bowman was able to cross the finish line first. This is Bowman’s first career victory at the 2.5-mile triangle venue and his third win this season with the No. 48 Ally team.

BOWMAN WINS, PETS WIN: Through the yearlong initiative between Ally and the Best Friends Animal Society, when Bowman wins a race, a local shelter receives $10,000 from him and primary sponsor Ally. Last weekend, Ally donated $10,000 and Bowman donated another $1,000 to the Animal Food Bank of Lehigh Valley in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, which is located 50 miles away from Pocono. The organization donates pet food to those experiencing economic distress, and these distributions are held twice a month. Their mission is to keep companion animals in loving homes and prevent their surrender to the shelter system by supplying families with pet food when they need it. Every week, Ally and Bowman each make a $1,000 donation to a local animal shelter in the race market. That donation gets bumped up if the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet clinches a victory.

2021 AT A GLANCE: So far this season, Bowman has three wins, five top-five finishes and 10 top-10s, which is tied for seventh most top-10 results in the series with Chase Elliott. The 28-year-old has led 151 laps and is currently ranked fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings after 19 events. Bowman’s three wins this season are tied for second with Martin Truex Jr. in the Series. All five of Bowman’s Cup Series victories came on a different track and all three of his wins in 2021 occurred in the last 11 events.

BOWMAN ON ROAD COURSES: In 2013, Bowman had one start at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After starting 15th, he finished 24th after he was involved in an incident on the last lap of the 55-lap event. In the Cup Series, the Tucson, Arizona, native has 15 starts at road courses and has two top-five finishes and seven top-10s. Bowman has finished inside the top 15 in all 11 road course starts while behind the wheel for Hendrick Motorsports and has an average finish of 9.45, which is the third best among active drivers since the start of 2018. The No. 48 team has placed in the top 10 in all three road course events in 2021 and currently has a four-race streak of top-10 finishes, which ranks second among active drivers.

IVES AT ROAD AMERICA: No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives has called the shots at Road America once in the Xfinity Series with driver Regan Smith in 2013. Smith brought home a 32nd-place result after a last-lap incident. Ives has 17 starts as a crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports on road courses and his drivers have captured two top-five results and nine top-10s.

CLOSE TO HOME: Car chief Austin Konetski grew up in Rockford, Illinois, which is approximately 149 miles away from Road America in Wisconsin. Konetski ran super late models at Slinger Speedway in Slinger, Wisconsin, which is only 43 miles away from the Elkhart Lake track. He raced go-karts, dirt modifieds and asphalt super late models growing up, eventually signing on with Hendrick Motorsports. He’s been with the organization eight years, two of which he was part of the Cup Series championship with Jimmie Johnson. Reuben Kauffman, the No. 48 underneath mechanic, grew up in Loganville, Wisconsin, which is 137 miles from the road course venue. Kauffman is from an Amish family and decided to leave the community in 2012 to come to North Carolina to work on race cars. In Wisconsin, Kauffman had experience working in his family’s cabinet shop and once he settled in North Carolina, he earned a position at Chip Ganassi Racing in fabrication. This is Kauffman’s second season with Bowman and Ives.

PIT CREW POWER: During the 2021 season, the No. 48 pit crew ranks third for the fastest four-tire pit stop average in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team has an average four-tire stop time of 13.71. The No. 48 pit crew includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback, and tire changers Scott Brzozowski (front) and Devin DelRicco (rear).

STAYING OUT FRONT: Through the last seven races, Hendrick Motorsports has six points-paying wins, five runner-up placements and has finished 1-2 in four of those races. Across all four teams, the drivers have totaled 17 top-five finishes, 21 top-10s, nine stage wins of the 15 completed and led a combined 1,203 of the 1,516 laps raced, or 79%.

CROWN THE KINGS: Hendrick Motorsports continues to show its road course strength, taking home wins in six of the last seven road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series. The four drivers have worked to score nine stage wins and have led 436 laps across the last seven road course events, starting with Chase Elliott’s win at Watkins Glen in August 2019 and stretching to its most recent win at Sonoma in June. Elliott currently leads all active drivers with the most road course wins (six).

SEVEN TIMES THE FUN: Hendrick Motorsports’ 22 road course victories have come at the hands of seven different drivers, the most of any team in Cup Series history. Jeff Gordon (nine), Elliott (six), Tim Richmond (three), Geoff Bodine (one), Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, and Ricky Rudd all have brought home victories from the twisting venues.

NOT DONE YET: Through the first 19 races in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports already has nine wins, the second-most victories at this point in the year in organization history. The four teammates now will try to earn double-digit wins for the first time since 2014 when the organization took home 13 total wins. That season, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson each had four wins and Kasey Kahne had one.

EVERY SECOND COUNTS: Hendrick Motorsports’ pit crews are performing at the top of their game, with three teams currently holding the fastest average four-tire pit stop times. The No. 5 team leads the Cup Series field with an average pit stop time of 13.61 seconds, followed by the No. 9 team with an average time of 13.70 seconds. The No. 48 team clocks in third with an average four-tire pit stop time of 13.71 seconds. The No. 24 crew rounds out the Hendrick Motorsports stable with an average time of 14.0 seconds.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what he thinks of Road America: “I’ve raced there before in an Xfinity car in 2013. I remember it was a really fun racetrack – a really long racetrack. I’m definitely excited to get back there this weekend because it’s a really cool place. Whether on the simulator or iRacing, it’s good to get visuals of elevation changes ahead of time.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his previous Road America experience: “Kyle has raced there before and I did in Xfinity, as well, but there’s not much you can pull from those past experiences. It’s been such a long time, so we’re trying to take a fresh look at understanding the race. We’ll go back and watch some Xfinity races from the past couple of years to try to get a feel for what is important there, what do we need to attack and what we need to tune.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to Road America: “I’ve raced up at Road America a couple times in the Xfinity Series and I always really enjoyed going there. It’s a cool racetrack. There are a lot of race fans up there – a lot of people that enjoyed having us racing there. I’ve always felt very welcome and I don’t anticipate this weekend being any different. I am looking forward to getting back up there.”

Elliott on if preparations at Hendrick Motorsports have changed with the success this season: “I don’t think our prep has changed, but it’s a good thing, right? We would much rather be on this side of the fence than the other. I don’t really feel like any of us that are involved are any different people, or any better people or worse than we were last year or the year before. Those of us that have been around for a few years. Obviously, the car has changed, but how we prepare for races, how I prepare for races – you are either prepared for a race or you’re not at the end of the day. You either have the knowledge and understand what you’re looking for or you don’t. I haven’t really changed that approach since my rookie year and I feel like when things are going good and we are clicking and things are working well we can perform at a high level. I don’t see any need in us changing what we do too much.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to Road America: “I’m excited for this road course. I finished sixth there in the Xfinity Series in 2017. I had a good run and felt like it was one of my best road course races in that series overall. I expect more of the same this weekend in the Cup car. You just want to make sure that the car turns well and that you’re good in the braking zones. For us as a team, I think we will start off getting back to the basics of road course racing. We’ve had some bad luck recently but normally we’re really good at this style of racing. I’m excited that it’s another new track for the series and I think it will race really well for our cars.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to road course racing: “Honestly, this weekend we’re looking to set the reset button on our road course racing program for the No. 24 team. After Sonoma and how things ended and some misfortune at the DAYTONA Road Course, we really want to get back to the speed and execution we had at COTA. Even with suffering damage there, we were able to make it back through the field and on a strategy that set us up well for the end before the weather picked up. William feels like road course racing has become one of his strengths over the last couple years and we want to keep him confident in that. So, the plan is to have a nice, basic weekend of executing like we need to and having a solid plan should any misfortune arise. We know what we’re capable of – it’s just a matter of maximizing where we can and there’s potential for that this weekend.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the 2021 success at Hendrick Motorsports: “The morale is obviously super high at Hendrick Motorsports. It’s really cool to see it that way. I think there’s not one thing. It’s each and every individual at Hendrick Motorsports from top to bottom in every department; it’s everybody at Chevrolet. Our engines are strong, bodies are great, chassis are great. The guys putting them together are doing a great job. Having Chad (Knaus) in a new role is really good. Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and Jeff (Andrews) and everybody are giving us all the tools we need to put the parts and pieces together to go win races. It’s not one thing. It’s a culmination of everybody’s hard work. It’s cool to be a part of it and be the guy that gets to drive them.”

Bowman on returning to Road America: “I am excited to get to Road America this weekend. I raced there in the Xfinity Series back in 2013, so getting back there is going to be a lot of fun. It is a long racetrack and really long lap times, but it is a fun place and really technical.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the team’s experience at Pocono last weekend: “It was definitely odd to win and then have to get ready to race again the next day. I’m very thankful that we were able to have a good car again on Sunday and able to come home seventh. Saturday kind of was going as planned. Obviously, we knew that the No. 5 car had four tires and we had two tires. You never want to see your teammate have an issue like that but we were in the position we needed to be in, and it just worked out. On the last lap, we were talking about what we needed for Sunday’s race to be better. When we crossed the line first, it was a roller coaster of emotion and a surprised celebration for me on the box.”

Ives on his experience at Road America: “It is definitely an advantage having track time at a place like Road America. The hardest part is probably only remembering the corners that were most prevalent. Hendrick has great cars right now and the power has been strong from the Hendrick engine shop, so I know that we can get another good finish this weekend.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 30, 2021

Justin Marks, Founder, Trackhouse Entertainment Group; Chip Ganassi, CEO Chip Ganassi Racing; Ty Norris, President, Trackhouse Racing – Press Conference Transcript:

NOTE: On June 30, 2021, Justin Marks, Founder of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, announced the purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation. The transfer of all CGR NASCAR assets to Trackhouse Racing will take place following the NASCAR Cup Series final race of the 2021 season on November 7, 2021. Trackhouse Racing will field two full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries in 2022. Daniel Suarez, driver of the Trackhouse Racing No. 99 Chevrolet, will continue with the organization, with the second driver to be named at a later date.

PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for taking your time out today. My name is Ty Norris. I’m the president of Trackhouse Racing. We know we pulled this together very late, so thank you so much for the time to come out here and hear what we have to say.

Pretty landmark day for Trackhouse Racing. We’d like to welcome the viewers watching on NASCAR.com’s live stream. Also, to the listeners who are listening live on Sirius XM radio.

As you see up here with me, I have the CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing, Chip Ganassi, and the founder and co‑owner of Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks. Our friend Pitbull is in Miami and he sends his regards. We would have loved to have him here. He brings some energy.

We are proud to announce that Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing has purchased the NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing. Trackhouse has acquired all of the NASCAR assets of Ganassi Racing, including all equipment and its two charters.

Trackhouse will take ownership of the assets at the conclusion of the 2021 racing season. Daniel Suárez, who is a current driver for Trackhouse Racing in the No. 99 Chevrolet, will continue as one of our drivers, and we will be discussing a second driver at a later date, which is a confirmation that Trackhouse Racing will be fielding two full‑time NASCAR Cup Series entries starting in 2022 and moving deep into the future.

All financial terms ‑‑ no financial terms will be discussed. It is a private business transaction. So appreciate all the questions that may be coming about that, but these will not be addressed today.

I want to turn it over first to Mr. Ganassi for his comments.

CHIP GANASSI: Thanks, Ty. Good morning. It’s nice to see all of you here. I must say our team was not for sale. Justin simply came to me with a great offer and even a better vision for racing.

There’s a lot of new blood in NASCAR, as you’ve heard or read of recent, people like Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, the Spire people, Kaulig Racing, a lot of new blood, and they all seem to be bringing a new perspective, and more importantly a new vision.

The sport I think needs people with vision, and today NASCAR continues to build on its successes and by most accounts continues to grow.

There’s much to be excited about, I think, if you’re involved in NASCAR. I actually owe a lot of thanks to some of the NASCAR leadership because I’ve felt they’ve been some of my greatest mentors, people like Jim France and Bill France Jr., Mike Helton and some of these people have become even better friends of mine over the years.

If I was trying to sell my team, I would have talked to everybody that was looking for a charter or looking for a team or looking to get involved in the sport. I did not. I talked to one person, and that’s this guy right here. I didn’t talk to anybody else.

I want you to know I’m still dedicated to motorsports and the sport of auto racing. In my opinion it’s the greatest sport in the world, and it still seems to be on an upward trajectory.
We will still be involved ‑‑ I’m not getting out of racing. I still have three other teams in the INDYCAR series, IMSA, sports cars and Extreme E. So our days by no means are getting out of racing.

I wish Justin well in this business. I’m here to help him at any time. With that, I want to turn it over to Justin Marks. Thank you.

JUSTIN MARKS: All right, big day. I want to thank the media that showed up, everybody tuning in. I want to thank NASCAR for their help in putting all this together and all the fans that are tuning in right now, some here in person and others over the internet.

I want to thank Chip, his executive team in working with professionalism and candor and diligence through this whole process, which has happened pretty quickly, but it’s been the honor of my professional career to work with them through this process.

This is obviously a great day for Trackhouse, but we’re going to be in the news for a long time to come. We’re going to be able to talk about races and sponsors, we’re going to be able to talk about drivers and everything for years and years and hopefully decades to come.

I think today is about honoring the legacy and the contributions that Chip has made to NASCAR over the last 20 years. Over 1,300 Cup races, won every marquee event in the sport, helped launch the careers, stock car careers of drivers like Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ross Chastain, a number of others, and they’ve executed numerous groundbreaking partnership programs, companies like Havoline, Target, Bass Pro Shops, Miller Coors, McDonald’s and more, and all that hard work and legacy, everything that has been built at CGR over the past two decades, that will serve as the foundation for the Trackhouse vision moving forward.

I can’t think of anybody better than Chip to go through that process. CGR has been a big part of my life and a big part of my career. I remember standing on the hill ‑‑ and I’ve told Chip all this so it’s a little redundant, but I remember standing on the hill at Laguna Seca at the INDYCAR race in 1996 with my father watching Alex Zanardi make that amazing pass in the corkscrew to win on a day when Jimmy Vasser won the INDYCAR championship. I remember being in my college weight room with my best friend doing a workout watching Jamie McMurray win at Charlotte in his second ever start.

When I started racing myself for BMW in the Rolex Sports Car Series every weekend, I watched Chip’s prototypes win races, win championships.

One of my best friends in racing that I’ve ever met, Joey Hand, I watched him race for Chip and reach the pinnacle of his career, winning in the Ford GT at Le Mans, and the highlight of my personal driving career was winning my Xfinity Series race at Mid‑Ohio in 2016 in Chip’s No. 42 car.

Being at this moment right now, it truly does just feel like another part of a great motorsports story. There’s lots of work to do for us at Trackhouse, but there’s also a lot of enthusiasm to do that work.

I want to thank, again, everybody that helped make this come together on this project. I want to congratulate Chip on the indelible mark that you’ve made in the sport.
TY NORRIS: I’m glad you clapped. I was hoping somebody would. That was great. We’re going to open it up to questions now to some of the members of the media who are here.

Q&A’s:

Q. Chip, I’m sure this was a heartfelt decision for you; even though you have lots of racing, you are all about racing all the time. What was the difficult part of this and what was the part that just made perfect sense? You alluded to it a little bit, but go to the heart of it if you would.

CHIP GANASSI: Well, like I said, the team wasn’t for sale. Justin called me up one day, and I think I probably turned him off after the first phone call or something; I said leave me alone or something.

You know, I just ‑‑ he came back with an offer that required my attention, I guess, and so I think I had to take a look at it. Like I said, I didn’t talk to anybody else. I didn’t call anybody else. I didn’t call anybody. It just came together very fast. It was very easy.
Obviously as you know we’ve worked with Justin in the past, and it seemed like a good fit, and his vision for going forward seemed to match ours, I think whether it was watching out for the current employees or just what he wanted to do in racing going forward.

Like I said, there’s a lot of new blood coming into the sport right now, and it’s time for someone else to take over. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, going every weekend, every weekend, every weekend for 20 years. This will give me an opportunity to turn the RPM down a little bit and take a look at it from another perspective and help make this ‑‑ help Justin with his vision.

Q. Was there a part of this that was hard?
CHIP GANASSI: Well, it’s somewhat bittersweet when you look back on 20 years of your life of something you’ve been doing, but it’s time for new blood and time for a change. I’ve always accepted change with a positive attitude.

Q. When did Justin come to you?
CHIP GANASSI: Less than a month ago. Yeah, I would say ‑‑ it seems to be less than a month ago.

JUSTIN MARKS: I think it was about two months but it went fast.

Q. What was it about this offer? Was it the financial component? Was it not interested in continuing as a NASCAR owner that made this an intriguing proposition for you?

CHIP GANASSI: No, I don’t think the financial component was nearly as important as just his vision about where he wanted to go, what he wanted to do, how he wanted to handle it, how he wanted to do a deal or how ‑‑ just basically the way he wanted to do it I think was maybe more compelling than the financial component.

Q. Justin, you’ve talked about wanting to get more charters, those kind of things. We know the cost of those is going up. Did it reach a point where you look at what the cost of a charter was and you said, wait a second, why don’t I maybe shift gears and look at an existing team instead if I’m going to spend the money?

JUSTIN MARKS: Look, this is so much more than a charter acquisition, this is an investment in an entire enterprise. For Trackhouse, it was always the vision of Trackhouse to go through this process of establishing itself in the sport in a responsible way. That’s why this year we’re working with RCR the way that we’re working and being very intelligent about our capital outlay and about the investments that we make, and this was an opportunity to be able to make an investment in something that can be a foundation for decades to come. Multiple car teams, Chip has amassed a great set of assets at that shop that can be applied to the Next‑Gen car in a way that we can start doing more and more on our own at Trackhouse, and there’s a lot of processes and IP and things in place over there that have been developed for a long time that are going to be really, really valuable to us. So it’s a very sort of wholistic deal. It’s just kind of looking at everything and asking ourselves, what is Trackhouse’s best move that we can make to set up intelligently and responsibly for the future, and this was it.

Q. Just kind of curious, Justin, will you continue to have a satellite in Charlotte and the main deal in Nashville, and do you plan on using the current Chip Ganassi Racing place in Concord for your base?

JUSTIN MARKS: The Trackhouse Entertainment Group, which is the parent company of our race team, is based and always will be based in Nashville. We’ve had discussions about having race operations based out of there would look like. There’s no plans in place at the moment to do that.

I think there’s a lot of really valuable infrastructure that’s been built in Concord at Chip’s building that we want to take advantage of it, so the plan right now is to operate out of that building in 2022, and we’ll start looking to the future after that.

Q. How frustrating was it just the struggles that your two cars have gone through the last couple of years where you’ve been extremely more successful on the INDYCAR and IMSA side, and then there’s always been NASCAR, and you’ve just never really reached that level of success that you’ve enjoyed in the other –

CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I don’t know that I would characterize it as a struggle. I mean, it’s just the normal ins and outs of racing, whether it was pandemic driven or driver issues or sponsor issues, so sort of the stuff that goes along with the sport that you get.
Hey, I think we did well. We’ve been in the playoffs every year, and once you get in the playoffs, it’s a jump ball, so I’m very proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished.

Q. Justin, it was a year ago you started Trackhouse. Was getting involved with an established team ‑‑ how did you formulate that? Was it suddenly or was this your long‑term plan all along?

JUSTIN MARKS: Well, that’s an interesting question. I mean, it definitely happened ‑‑ we got to this point quicker than I thought we would be. We’re 19 races into Trackhouse’s history, and this is obviously a monumental moment already for the company.
It’s happened very quickly, but I think that a transaction like this or getting to this kind of moment was certainly probably always in the plan, and when you’re talking about ‑‑ obviously to solidify your future in the sport, the charter is an important thing. When Ty and I were constantly auditing the charter landscape, the conversation started going, is there something bigger or something more meaningful to look at out there. Let’s not lose sight of our plank a little bit and just take a bigger look at the entire industry, and in those conversations I just immediately went to Chip.

I’ve raced for him, obviously, for a number of years. I know a lot of the great people there, and I just ‑‑ he was the first person I could call to have a conversation with.
I think our first conversation went great.

So, I guess it was a very pleasurable experience, but to answer your question, it’s a big moment very quickly in the life of Trackhouse, but I build companies to try to do great things.

Q. Chip, how will you spend your spare time now?

CHIP GANASSI: Well, it’ll give us an opportunity to focus on our other racing operations in IMSA and INDYCARs and Extreme E, so I don’t have many weekends off still. Not too many.

Q. Justin, a question for you. Trackhouse tweeted out a picture with you, Pitbull, Tony Robbins before this announcement. Has there been a recent infusion of new ownership interest or investment to make this possible?

JUSTIN MARKS: There hasn’t. Tony came to visit us in Charlotte. Armando has obviously a big network of people, and as he’s gotten to learn more and more about NASCAR and he’s become more and more involved in our team, he’s kind of spreading that message in his network. Him and Tony are close, and Tony came to visit us in Charlotte. I think Tony wants to get involved at some level, but this is not the result of any new equity infusion or new ownership or anything like that. We will continue on our trajectory on that ownership and marketing and business development side like we have and then obviously on the competition side this just gives us a lot of support and a lot of big foundation for the future.

Q. Was there any alternative ‑‑ in terms of acquiring a charter in any other way besides basically doing this deal?

JUSTIN MARKS: No. No. I mean, I made the decision to pursue this with Chip, and if it didn’t get to a place that worked for both of us, then at that point I was just going to pivot and see what else is out there, but I was all in on this from day one. It was the only thing I was focused on.

Every time we talked we had great conversations. I felt like momentum pushed forward, and there wasn’t really any point during this process where I thought I was going to need a backup plan or anything like that.

Q. You’ve spoken of Chip in glowing terms and how much respect you have for him and all he’s meant to you. Is there a sense of pressure that you’re carrying on his legacy now with this and trying to build upon the foundation that he has laid down and try to, for lack of a better description, make Chip proud of what you’re going to do forward?

JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, I think some people, pressure can also be thought of as opportunity, and I think that’s kind of how I view it personally. There is a legacy there, but that’s a tremendous opportunity for Trackhouse. That’s a tremendous opportunity for the future, and so I welcome that pressure. I welcome those expectations. We’re in the business of putting great people together and letting them do their jobs to achieve great things. That’s not going to change.
I think at any point ‑‑ when you get to this level of this business, there’s going to be a lot of pressure involved in anything that you do, but you have to be willing to look yourself in the mirror and charge full ahead into that, and we at Trackhouse are.

Q. Justin, Daniel really seems to have grasped what you guys are doing, both on and off the track. What kind of driver do you think will accentuate his gifts and help make Trackhouse stronger as a whole?

JUSTIN MARKS: That’s a great question, and that’s an exercise that we have to go through. We have kept this very, very quiet through this process with respect to Chip and with respect to everybody that’s working at both organizations to try to limit any kind of distractions or anything through this process. As we start thinking about what the future looks like, that question will be one of the first ones we have to ask ourselves and we have to go through that process.
At this point this whole process has been about getting to this moment and this announcement, and like I said earlier, that’s just one element of a lot of work ahead of us this summer.

Do I have a short list? I do have a short list, yeah.

TY NORRIS: No driver list is ever long. It’s always short.

Q. Chip, what do you take away from NASCAR right now? What did you feel as being a part of NASCAR? And what is the situation for owners in NASCAR right now? What advice would you have for Justin Marks? You’ve been doing this a long time, been successful. What’s the state of the affair, do you know?

CHIP GANASSI: Yeah, I think it’s an on uptick. I look at my 20 years and I say, hey, I’m 63 years old; what am I going to do? Am I going to do this for 10 more years or something? I just think ‑‑ we seem to be in a period of time here where there’s some movement going on and some new fresh young blood coming in, and like I said, our team wasn’t for sale, I wasn’t planning on selling it. Quite frankly no one ever offered to buy it in 20 years, so I was just ‑‑ I thought it was something I should listen to. I think it’s an on uptick. I have a lot of friends in NASCAR, a lot of friends in the garage area, I’ve got a lot of friends in management at NASCAR, and I’m not going away from racing. I’ll be around.

TY NORRIS: Just a couple comments sort of off the list here, but when we started all this, I owe a personal thank you from Justin and myself to TJ Puchyr and the guys at Spire for helping us land the charter to be able to race this year. That was a very important moment for us. And Richard Childress Racing and Andy Petree and Dr. Eric Warren when he was at RCR, they were first believers in us.

Those people were very, very important to get us here, as is Daniel and some of the sponsors that came on board with us with CommScope, with Coca‑Cola, Freeway Insurance, Camping World and the iFLY Group. Those were all early believers in what we were doing and the process through coming into the sport, the way NASCAR has approached it with us, from Mr. France all the way through the system, has been remarkable. This is my 30th year in the sport. I’ve never seen it better. I’ve never seen them communicate better. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization going forward.

We do want to send a sincere apology to some of the media folks who had other commitments today. We just could not, out of respect for the partners and the employees and all the businesses, we had to keep this under wraps until today for that reason we will make Justin and Chip available for Zoom calls.

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ford Zoom Media Availability | Wednesday, June 30, 2021

JEREMY BULLINS, Crew Chief, No. 2 Ford Mustang — YOU HAVE HAD SOME PRETTY GOOD SUCCESS AT ROAD AMERICA. WHAT IS IT YOU LIKE ABOUT IT THERE AND HOW YOU THINK YOUR SUCCESS MIGHT BODE WELL FOR THIS WEEKEND? “The first time I was there was when I started with Team Penske in 2012 with the Xfinity program. We were fortunate enough to have some really good road racers in our cars. We got the win with AJ and a second with Tag (Alex Tagliani) and ran pretty good there with Jacques (Villeneuve). It is a really cool place and I am really looking forward to taking a Cup car there. Not only is it a fun race track but it is a fun environment. The fans there really love what we do and it should be a great weekend.”

THERE WAS BIG NEWS THAT JUST CAME OUT OF NASCAR MOMENTS AGO WITH GANASSI SELLING HIS ASSETS TO TRACKHOUSE RACING. WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THAT? “I certainly didn’t have that one on my bingo card. I think it just shows you where the sport is. I think there was a lot of hope with some of the directions we were going with in the future that new ownership would want to participate and I think that is what we are seeing. I think you are seeing some excitement and things we haven’t seen lately. I think that is great. I think it is a great opportunity for what Justin is doing and the ability to come in and hopefully, those guys can run at a high level and be successful.”

LOOKING AT THIS WEEKEND, ONE OF THE BIG STORIES IS THE LIMITED PRACTICE. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AT A LONG TRACK LIKE ROAD AMERICA? “Yeah, we get 50-minutes and just over a 4-mile racetrack. You won’t get a lot of laps. You have to make it count. The biggest thing you are trying to do is get your travels right and balance close. You don’t have time to do any real R&D or try anything. You are taking your road course history and notes from other places and try to build what we think is the best setup and dial that in as quickly as possible.

WE HAVE ALL SEEN WHERE SOMEONE GETS REALLY HOT AND RUNS OUT FRONT AND THEN EVERYONE SEEMS TO CATCH UP. FROM A TEAM PERSPECTIVE, WHAT IS THAT PROCESS LIKE WHERE YOU ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IN THE WORLD THEY ARE DOING AND HOW YOU CAN REPLICATE IT AND CATCH BACK UP? “I think the best way to describe it is that it goes in cycles. There have been times the Gibbs cars couldn’t be beat and times our cars were really good and seemed like we couldn’t do anything wrong. Lately, it has been the Hendrick cars. It goes in cycles. Other teams will pick up. We are always working as hard as we can. Sometimes when you are behind you push that much harder to find the next thing to make you competitive. With this format, it is about peaking at the right time. They have done a good job of winning a lot of races and getting a lot of playoff points and putting themselves in a good position. We are trying to get better all the time and working really hard to get better. I guess what I am hoping for us as the 2 team is that we can peak at the right time during the playoffs and make a little magic when the 750 tracks roll around> Hopefully we run well at Richmond and do the things that we did last year that got us to Phoenix and give us another chance.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO ATLANTA AND HOW IT CHEWS UP TIRES. IT IS ABOUT GETTING BALANCE TO PUSH HARDER SOONER AND LONGER? “I agree with that. I think the 550 package has a lot to do with that. I think you carry a lot more wide-open time now with the 550 package than you would have years ago with the older Cup cars. It is just a product of the racing and the way it is now. But still, it is Atlanta and abusing your tires will cost you something. It may not be the same penalty as it was years ago when I first started going there but there is still a penalty and it still requires something different than some of the other 1.5 mile tracks do.”

THE STRATEGY THIS WEEKEND, IS IT EASIER BECAUSE YOU CAN JUST KIND OF PLOT OUT WHERE YOU WANT TO PIT AND WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH SUCH A LONG TRACK? “I would say it is easy in some ways and more difficult in some ways. The one thing I would point out is that, and if you look back to 2014 when we had Tag there, we ran out of gas near the end of the race and fortunately it was as we were at the pit road entrance. We were able to make it back to pit road to put fuel in. On a 4-mile racetrack, if we had run out of gas a couple hundred feet later, that would have been bad. There are some things with the risk scenario of how you gamble on caution at the end and how risky you are with fuel windows that are a little tough. Some of the things you worry about, you aren’t going to get lapped if you pit. That makes it easier to be more aggressive. It is a risk-reward scenario for sure.”

YOU HAVE A TWO-WEEK BREAK OFF IN JULY. WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY, HOW DO YOU LOOK AT IT? IS IT A CHANCE TO TAKE A VACATION AND GET AWAY AND RESET FOR THE FINAL PORTION OF THE SCHEDULE OR IS IT A CHANCE TO DO THE THINGS YOU HAVEN’T HAD A CHANCE TO DO OR REFOCUS AS A TEAM? “I think it is a little bit of both. We are pushing hard for the road guys, the traveling guys, to spend some time with family and kind of take a break and get themselves reset for this last push as we go into the playoffs. It is also an opportunity in the shop to get caught up on some things and get ahead on some things. YOu just have to find that balance like everything else.”

ALL THE TALK ABOUT BRAD (KESELOWSKI) AND HIS FUTURE. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE PROBABLY HAD TO ADDRESS THIS AS A LEADER OF A TEAM AND ORGANIZATION THROUGH THE RUMORS. WHAT IS THAT LIKE FOR YOU? HOW HAVE YOU TRIED TO KEEP EVERYONE TOGETHER? “I think the biggest thing for me is honesty and transparency about the situation. Letting the guys know what I know. Having Brad let them know what he knows. Let everybody try to be kept on the same page and understand what the situation is. We are all professionals and our team is handling this very professionally. We know that no matter what happens beyond 2021 that we have a great opportunity with Brad to win races and put ourselves back in the Final Four at Phoenix. We will deal with 2022 then or in the off-season. For us, the main thing is that the timing was unfortunate because we had a few weeks with issues and things going wrong and penalties at a time when all these rumors were going around. It starts to give that outside appearance. I hope last weekend proved a point that we are here to contend for wins and a championship. We had a great weekend at Pocono and feel like we got our legs back under us a little bit and are ready to go through the summer.”

WHAT MAKES ROAD AMERICA DIFFERENT THAN ANY OF THE ROAD COURSES THE CUP SERIES HAS BEEN ON BEFORE? “I think being such a long track, a 4-mile track, I think the cool thing about it is that there are so many different corners. There is the long straightaway with the big braking zone into 1. You have the kink in the back where you carry lots of speed. There is a good mix of corners and speed differentials. It is very similar in a sense to COTA. COTA had that as well. I think it creates a lot of interesting passing zones and should make for good racing. It was always a great Xfinity race. It is an older surface with some character and roughness in places and a lot of challenges you have to work through.