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Sunday, June 18, 2000 By Ron Cook, Post-Gazette Sports Columnist
As Chip Ganassi was telling David Letterman Thursday night ... No, Ganassi wasn't actually on the Late Show. His driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, was. It was backstage, in the green room, where Ganassi put Montoya's victory for the Target/Ganassi Racing Team at the Indianapolis 500 into perspective.
"Next to my daughter, it's the best thing that ever happened to me."
As if Letterman didn't know.
C'mon, he's from Indiana.
"The Cathedral of Speed!" Letterman gushed.
You don't have to be a racing fan to know winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a big deal. It changed Ganassi's life. It changed Montoya's.
Montoya is the hottest driver in racing. "The Tiger Woods of our sport," Ganassi has called him. Speculation has Montoya leaving Ganassi to race the more lucrative Formula One in Europe next year.
Ganassi, 42, is the hottest owner in racing, although that's not exactly breaking news to anyone who follows CART. He's a living, breathing dynasty. He won the past four CART championships with three different drivers and is in position to win a fifth after Montoya's victory at the Miller Lite 225 in Milwaukee June 5. Montoya is fourth in the point standings and teammate Jimmy Vasser third with 14 races left, including one today in Detroit.
"We'll definitely be in the hunt, but that's not good enough for me," said Ganassi, whose drivers have won 31 of CART's past 78 races. "I like being the hunted."
Ganassi need not worry, especially not after what happened in Indianapolis three weeks ago.
"You know it's the biggest race in the world, but winning it really doesn't sink in until people everywhere you go tell you they were watching," Ganassi said. "People who aren't racing fans watch that race. It's an event. How many of those are there in sports? The Super Bowl. The Final Four. The Kentucky Derby ... "
In the 1980s, when Ganassi was fresh out of Duquesne, he drove five times at Indy, finishing eighth in 1983. He thought that was as good at it gets.
But it got better. In 1989, as part-owner of Patrick Racing, Ganassi won the 500 with Emerson Fittipaldi. Who could top that?
Ganassi found a way when Montoya led 167 of the 200 laps to win easily. You should have seen the two after the race. Has anyone ever looked better with a milk mustache?
"That's not exactly the drink you would choose after a long, hard day, but it sure tasted pretty sweet that day," Ganassi said, grinning.
Sweeter than in 1989?
"Definitely," Ganassi said. "Fittipaldi already had been a Formula One champion by the time he won for us. Everybody knew who he was.
"It would be like bringing Greg Maddux to Pittsburgh. You couldn't take credit for him. Your farm system didn't produce him. But Montoya is like Kris Benson for us. We produced him. Two years ago, no one had ever heard of him. Now, he's the Indianapolis 500 winner. That makes this one much sweeter for me."
There are other reasons.
Ganassi had much more at stake than just the $2 million he coaxed from his primary sponsors, Target and Budweiser, to buy the specially designed G-Force Auroras that Montoya and Vasser raced. There was his reputation. There was CART's.
Like the other CART owners, Ganassi reluctantly had boycotted Indianapolis since 1995 because of a nasty feud with the rival Indy Racing League, which sanctions the race. He knew their war was hurting everyone in open-wheel racing.
Who knows what was stronger -- Ganassi's altruistic wishes for the sport or his selfish desire to race again at the Speedway? In any case, he entered, the only CART owner to do so.
"People asked me if I felt like it was 31 cars against two," Ganassi said. "I told them, 'It's like that for me every race.' No one gave me the CART championships, you know?"
That didn't lessen Montoya's and Vasser's respect for their boss.
"I admire him for having the guts to put it on the line," said Vasser, who finished seventh.
Ganassi downplayed the CART aspect of Montoya's victory. "I'm not a political person." But he couldn't help but smile when he heard what John Menard, team owner for defending IRL champion and Indy pole-winner Greg Ray, said after the race. "They were the best of the best, a very powerful team, a very organized team. They raised the level of competition to a whole new level. It's certainly going to raise some questions about the ability of the IRL teams to compete with CART."
Ganassi merely said he hopes more CART owners take a crack at Indy next year.
"I know one thing. I'll be there."
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com
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