Ganassi will make changes if his teams don’t improve
Quote selected text Published April 6th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Chip Ganassi wasn’t pleased with his NASCAR teams long before Dario Franchitti failed to qualify for Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. Just how unhappy the car owner actually is became clear Saturday when he unleashed a blistering indictment of his team’s performance so far this season.
“Frankly, there are 46 cars there and if you can’t beat three of them, that’s pretty pathetic,” Ganassi said on Sirius Satellite Radio. “I certainly have all the faith in the world in (Franchitti’s) driving abilities. I don’t think it’s that. The fact of the matter is, we didn’t give him a car that was capable of doing it.”
Although he praised the work Montoya and his # 42 crew has done to rebound from a slow start to the season, Ganassi was particularly upset with the performance of Sorenson’s #41 team. The third-year driver has four finishes of 31st or worse.
“The 41 team, it’s the same old things that take them out,” he said. “One week its this, the next week it’s that, and it’s sort of this combination of all of the above. Everybody on the 41 team is going to have to take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are prepared for what’s coming down the pike.” Ganassi, who was in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his IRL teams, said later Saturday he won’t hesitate to make personnel changes if that’s what it will take to get his teams turned in the right direction.
- Montoya to Gibbs? Don’t bet on it
- Ganassi looks to expand to four cars, Wheldon to move from IRL?
- No more contracts for Ganassi crewmembers
- Ganassi could lose Target as sponsor
- Possible merger between Ganassi and Waltrip?
I have a Change for him to make, SHOW UP AT THE RACES!
It’s no secret that his NASCAR teams are the worst of the teams he owns, so maybe if he would actually go to the races and be involved with the team he could better judge what needs to be done to make his teams preform better.
Your 150% right that organization has really struggled since Felix left.
He shouldn”t Have to babyset A team he hand picked..If they are not getting the job done Fire their asses and get some replacements from his IRL team……….
This is what he needs to do….put Dario and his crew in the #41 Target car, Leave Montoya where he’s at in the #42 car, and put Reed and his crew in the #42 NATIONWIDE car and fold the #40 team since Ganassi is having issues with sponsors anyway!! But I will agree Fisha and say to chip SHOW UP AT THE RACES!!!!! Your Indy rides are fine but if you want to win in NASCAR you need to commit a helluva lot more time to stock cars!!! And this is coming from a die-hard Stewart and Montoya fan!
Cheater wrote:
It’s not the team Driver wise, its the team Shop Crew wise.
The entire situation is pathetic, he needs to show up at the races, and if Dario’s car can’t get enough sponsorship, have him race in the Nationwide series for a year or two, until they can find sponsorship.
My friend is the receptionist at Ganassi and she says he barely comes into the shop… Needless to say if he barely comes into the SHOP the changes won’t be near as effective if he isn’t there to see them put into effect, who knows how that will shake out.
I know a few guys that work(ed) for this organization. Two of them shouldn’t work at a car wash, let alone a Cup team! Not very reliable or trustworthy if you get my drift. The other one has been there a short time and told them their cars were junk upon his arrival. They (team) told him that he didn’t know what he was talking about. This guy worked on a “chase” car for over 2 years before he left that organization. That team had well publicized management issues. Now they’re starting to listen to his suggestions but not totally embracing them. I guess that’s a start.
THE SOAP OPERA CONTINUES…
One of FIRST things Chip Ganassi should do is fire Jimmy Elledge; #41 Crew Chief for Sorenson’s team. The only reason Ganassi has kept Jimmy around is because he has been serving as an excellent “source spy” for Chip – concerning inside information on competitive teams & organizations.
This was a major problem for all of DEI over the past few years and played a major role in Dale Junior’s embarrassing train-wreck last season. Dale Junior’s dumb-ass decision to make his sister Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge the “confidant” ~ placing her “much too central” in all of his business dealings; was the primary reason why Dale Junior could not be trusted with sensitive business development information internally at DEI as it was being planned & undertaken by Teresa over the past 18-24 months.
Whatever information Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge fails to learn (through her direct dealings on behalf of her brother) she is instantly TOLD BY DALE JUNIOR anyway. Once Kelley learns… she blabs to her HUSBAND JIMMY ELLEDGE; CREW CHIEF FOR REED SORENSON’s #41 TEAM AT GANASSI RACING. Once Jimmy Elledge knows the plans & info – he instantly communicates to officials & management at Ganassi Racing, including many more of his former racing buddies & contacts throughout NASCAR. For years, anything sensitive relative to confidential, proprietary information internal at DEI has been a HELLISH, LIVING NIGHTMARE to try keeping secret because of this major conflict of relationships & business. Teresa Earnhardt and the rest of DEI management no longer have to worry about their major leak-path of business information being advertised [& the knowledge of] spreading like wild-fire throughout all of North Carolina & the race-world… because their biggest problem (Dale Junior) is now gone. (Thank God!)
Now that Dale Junior has torpedoed himself and is not at DEI anymore, Chip Ganassi no longer has a reason to keep Jimmy Elledge around either. Maybe if Chip Ganassi would have wised-up and made these staff changes allot longer ago – he wouldn’t find his teams floundering so badly. Ganassi’s new 7-post Shaker Rig they recently purchased won’t begin to help their car’s performance for at least a full year or more due to the huge learning-curve the machine technology requires; and that’s ASSUMING they even know how to [immediately] find competent engineering staff that understands how to operate and interpret the data those systems generate. They’re NOT simple TOYS.
I just think it’s ABSOLUTELY HILLARIOUS that Steve Hmiel went out on a limb last year making the most obsurd antics and cry-baby temper tantrums to the media when he left DEI and went to Ganassi Racing last October (behaving exactly like Dale Junior; extremely immature)… and now all the hyperbole and exaggerated incinuations that Hmiel publicly pissed & moaned about - have turned-out to be 3 times worse (in truth & reality) at his new place of employment. Teresa Earnhardt has always been an excellent, upright business person. Just because she has been trying to rebuild her personal life the past couple of seasons and not been present at all of the races on Sunday; she certainly has always maintained a major presence each day within the walls of the company Monday thru Friday (unlike Chip Ganassi). At least Teresa only has a couple of acres to get from her driveway to DEI each morning. SHE’S THERE.
Exactly as Dale Junior & Kelley have done to themselves – SCOTT HMIEL HAS ALSO MADE A TOTAL FOOL OUT OF HIMSELF WITH THE TRAIN-WRECK HE HAS WALKED INTO AT GANASSI RACING. The ONLY reason why Scott Hmiel even went to Ganassi Racing within a matter of 10 days last season, was because he had an open line of “private dialogue” with Jimmy Elledge through Kelley & Dale Junior. It’s no secret that Dale Junior and Kelley quietly labored to take as many people they could out of DEI last season; merely to serve as an on-going back-stab to Teresa because their evil coupe attempt had failed. Scott Hmiel was an easy and willing victim to play-upon and Jimmy Elledge got him is job at Ganassi for all the wrong reasons.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost…
Moral of the Story: The grass is never greener on the other side. It’s always a mirrage.
LMAO.
DOUBLE LMAO.
TRIPPLE LMAO !!!
this article just is too funny….
Hey Jane…I’m not a huge Dale Jr. fan, but to say he “torpedoed himself” seems a bit extreme since he’s 3rd in the points…
Then to say Steve (not SCOTT) Hmiel publicly went “out on a limb”, and pissed and moaned” about leaving DEI doesn’t quite match up with what I remember — in fact I don’t remember him saying much of anything at all…
Dale and Steve have made total fools of themselves??? Wow…I must be missing something here…