Back in the 80s and 90s, a horrifying crash on the racetrack would lead to fatalities and death. No Hans device, safer barriers or spec cars, it was pure racing, and the veteran team owner found himself on the receiving end of a life-threatening crash during the Michigan 500. You don’t often hear about someone walking away from a crash that bad, let alone turning it into a springboard for something massive. But Chip Ganassi? He’s that guy.

After his monster wreck at the Michigan 500 in 1984, most people would’ve called it a day, lucky to be alive and done with racing. Not Chip. He didn’t just survive; he dug deep, found some serious guts, and went on to become the only team owner ever to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s not just luck—that’s the kind of raw determination that makes Chip Ganassi a name you can’t ignore in NASCAR, IndyCar, and pretty much every corner of motorsport.

At 66, Chip’s still got that fire in him, and he’s finally opening up about how he keeps finding the best drivers out there—guys like Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain—while everyone else is playing catch-up. He sat down on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast and shared his perspective on finding great talent that would fuel success for his race teams.

There’s no secret to finding a good race car driver

Ganassi didn’t hesitate to share his philosophy when Harvick asked about how he identifies good talent with great potential. “There’s no one answer to that either, but it starts with your heart, I know that. A lot of guys are fast—I always say there are a lot of guys that can drive a racecar fast, but there are very few racecar drivers,” Ganassi said, drawing a line between raw speed and the instinct that makes a champion.

He reminisced about spotting Ross Chastain’s grit early on: “I remember you and Chastain back in Darlington when you were in a Busch race… He was driving a motor-home, Ross Chastain was driving somebody’s motor home to race, to just be there to get a shot at it, and we gave him a shot and he took full advantage of it.” Back in 2018, Chastain was struggling to find opportunities with a good team, and his three Xfinity Series tryouts kept his NASCAR dream alive. In 2021, he was promoted to drive the No. 42 car in the Cup Series.

Ganassi’s knack for talent isn’t just luck—it’s about seeing the intangibles. Take Kyle Larson, another Ganassi find, who drove for him from 2014 to 2020. He won six Cup Series races under Ganassi’s banner, including his first-ever win at Michigan in 2016. Ganassi saw Larson’s heart early on, even when others doubted the young dirt racer’s transition to stock cars. And while this partnership didn’t have a happy ending, it provided the driver with the right opportunity to showcase his skills.

“Not without a few bumps and bruises along the way, but he did it,” Ganassi said of Chastain, a sentiment that applies to Larson too—both drivers had their share of wrecks and controversies, but Ganassi’s belief in their potential turned them into stars. Harvick, a former driver himself, agreed: “Yeah, fast doesn’t always finish first,” highlighting that true racers, the ones Ganassi seeks, have the smarts and tenacity to win, not just the speed.

Ganassi’s mantra comes from decades of experience—he’s seen drivers come and go, and he knows what separates the good from the great. His teams have won 21 Indy 500s, 5 Daytona 500s, and countless other marquee races because he bets on heart over horsepower. Look at Juan Pablo Montoya, another Ganassi driver, who won the Indy 500 in 2000 along with the championship in 1999, or Dario Franchitti, who nabbed three IndyCar titles from 2009 to 2011. Ganassi’s ability to spot “racecar drivers,” not just fast ones, is why his teams keep winning across multiple series. It’s a gut instinct, honed by years of watching talent rise and fall, and it’s what keeps Chip Ganassi Racing at the top of the motorsport world.

Well, Chip isn’t just a great scout; he is also one of the influential personalities. This was evident from his stance against Roger Penske’s team for making illegal modifications ahead of the Indy 500.

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Ganassi expects Team Penske to lead the sport in the right direction

IndyCar once again has been struck by a controversy stemming from the Team Penske camp. During the Fast 12 qualifying for the Indy 500 pole, Josef Newgarden and Will Power’s cars had to be sent back to the grid after illegally modifying attenuators. Although it is a safety device, the IndyCar officials cited that this medication could lead to an aerodynamic advantage on the straightaways. And Ganassi, who had witnessed a similar situation last year with the push-to-pass scandal, expected Team Penske to learn from their mistakes.

“I think … all teams have a certain responsibility to uphold the integrity of the sport in any series, and no team more than Team Penske. They’ve had so much success over the years, and it’s a team everybody knows and everybody’s heard of, and they have a lot of success around the world in a lot of different series, so I think they need to be held to an even higher standard to protect the sport.” Ganassi said on the podcast.

Now, Roger Penske has made major changes, with Tim Cindric being removed from his role as the Team President along with managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer. And this has led to a major shakeup in terms of favorites who can win the 109th running of Indy 500. With Penske driver starting from the back, Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Alex Palou can look to bag another major trophy for their team boss.