Dario Franchitti, who earned his third consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series title in 2011, provided Target Chip Ganassi Racing its fourth in a row and ninth overall in Indy car racing (since 1994, only Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR has more major motorsports titles with 10).
On Dec. 20, team principal Chip Ganassi and Franchitti talked about the season and the outlook for 2012.
All competitors driving the new Dallara Automobili chassis and the season will feature engine manufacturer competition between Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus. Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Franchitti and two-time series champion Scott Dixon, along with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing driver Graham Rahal and Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing driver Charlie Kimball, will utilize the Honda 2.2-liter, turbocharged V6 engine.
“All titles are a year-long battle,” Ganassi said. “Each one of them, you feel like there’s some point in the year when you’ve just blown it all. We come into each year wanting to win the championship. We talk about that often. You have so many people that work so hard putting this thing together.
“I can look back and remember times when I thought, ‘Oh, we’re not going to win it in 2011, seems like it’s over.’ But somewhere, somebody in the team picks you up and says, ‘Hey, we can still do this.’ That’s what’s great about having a great team of people, whether it’s having a great driver, having a great team manager, having a great engineer, having a great crew chief. It takes a whole team these days to win these things.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our people.”
Franchitti, who needs one victory to tie Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais for seventh (31 wins) on the all-time list, outdistanced Verizon Team Penske’s Will Power for the second consecutive season for the championship.
“The ups and downs, like Chip said, the way the season ebbs and flows, I think one thing I’ve learned is to keep a very open mind,” said Franchitti, who recorded four victories in 2011. “There’s not been a point in any of these championships where I thought, ‘Yeah, we’ve got this,’ or on the other side where, ‘We’re out of this thing.’ I’ve just kept an open mind and tried to each week, each moment in the car just get the most you can, make that next pass, make that next move.
“That’s kind of the way I’ve dealt with things, trying to keep it balanced, not to get too crazy excited when we had a big points lead or get too desperate and upset when that lead eroded or we were behind. That seems to have worked very well.
One of the reasons I can do that, I have so much faith in every single person that works for Team Target.”
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