Thirst for Victory Never Quenched for Owners Penske, Ganassi, Andretti at Indianapolis
May 27, 2017 | By Phillip B. Wilson, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Roger Penske sounds as intense as ever. Chip Ganassi welcomes every opportunity to defeat him. And Michael Andretti continues to triumph as an owner in the race that dogged him as a driver.
The powerhouse trio of owners in the Verizon IndyCar Series have a combined 15 of the 33 cars entered in the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday. Their cars have claimed 25 Indy 500 victories in their careers, including eight with drivers in this field.
Each year, they look forward to competing against each other on the largest stage in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” They don’t need added motivation because they keep pushing each other.
“That’s what we’re here to do,” said Ganassi, who has won five Indy 500s. “We want to measure ourself against the best. When you do that here on Race Day, when you win here on Race Day, that’s what you’ve done. Whoever wins has measured himself against the best.”
Team Penske has set the standard with a record 16 Indy 500 victories, most recently in 2015, when Juan Pablo Montoya celebrated his second victory. Montoya’s first win was with Ganassi in 2000. Montoya starts 18th in the No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Team Penske Chevrolet.
“The approach today is more technical,” Penske said. “The commitment that these drivers are making, the conversation about where they live, they’re closer to the shop and are part of the everyday action that’s going on at the race shop. This race is such a buildup. You spend all this time preparing these cars.
“This is such an important race. I’m trying to get to 20 (wins), if that’s possible, so I’ve got some work to do. To me, I think we’ve got the right people. It was a big step for us to go to five cars (this year). I committed to Juan that we’d race him here at Indianapolis. He’s a tremendous competitor, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won the race this year. He’s certainly motivated.”
Alexander Rossi’s triumphant rookie ride a year ago enabled Andretti, in a joint venture with Bryan Herta Autosport, to earn his fourth Indy 500 win as an owner. It’s a noteworthy accomplishment considering Andretti, as a driver, led the most Indy 500 laps (431) without a victory in a successful career with 42 Indy car wins, which ranks third on the all-time list.
The one active driver who has led more Indy 500 laps than Andretti is Scott Dixon, who won the pole for this year’s race in the No. 9 Camping World Honda. Dixon’s 434 laps led rank 10th on the all-time list. He won the 2008 “500” from the pole and is a four-time series champion.
But Ganassi hasn’t won this race since 2012 with Dario Franchitti.
“You have a mix of your car and your engine and your engineers and your drivers and the weather and your plan for the race and the setup of the car, you sort of have all of these variables that come into play,” Ganassi said. “You want to have control of as many variables as you can, and you want to have a clean day once the green flag drops.
“Taking all of those into consideration, and looking back on ’13, ’14, ’15 and ’16, I don’t know that I could do anything different than I would have. I think we put our best foot forward each year. We have a great team and great people. Some of those years, we just got beat. I don’t want to take anything away from any other teams. The difference between winning and losing here is a very thin margin, I can tell you.”
Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves has been in hot pursuit to join four-time winners A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser since the Team Penske driver from Brazil last prevailed in 2009. His No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet, which topped the speed chart in the final one-hour practice Friday on Miller Lite Carb Day, will start 19th.
The other previous “500” winners on one of the three powerhouse teams are Ganassi’s Tony Kanaan and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. Kanaan, who won in 2013 with KV Racing Technology, starts seventh in the No. 10 NTT Data Honda. Hunter-Reay, who won in 2014, starts 10th in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
“I just think the sport has gotten to another level,” Penske said. “I think the racing action has been terrific. It’s down to this race.
“Our guys are just glued to each other, the information coming off what they learn on their cars. I’ve never seen that. There’s more collaboration than I’ve ever seen. I think it’s just where we’re living at today. They see we’re dealing with split-seconds; we’re dealing with little things. It’s just so important to have these guys work together, and I think that’s what they’re doing.”
Andretti, 54, has a team-high six entries in Sunday’s race, including two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso, who qualified fifth in the No. 29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti car.
Team Penske’s five-car stable also includes defending series champion Simon Pagenaud, 2014 series champion Will Power and Josef Newgarden.
Ganassi Racing’s four-car lineup also includes Max Chilton, who was fastest in Monday practice, and Charlie Kimball.
Penske, at 80, assures he’s not slowing down.
“No, listen, I’ve got a routine here,” he said.
Ganassi, at 59, is encouraged by the longevity of “The Captain.”
“That’s good,” Ganassi said. “That gives me hope that I’ll be here until I’m 80.”
Visit IMS.com to purchase tickets for the 101st Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday, May 28, and for more information on the complete Race Weekend schedule at IMS.