Catchfence

Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Location: Speedway, Indiana

NOTES/NEWS

Follow CGR on Twitter: Follow @CGRTeams for official updates from Chip Ganassi Racing’s IZOD IndyCar Series drivers Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball.

Team Manager Mitch Davis on Indianapolis: “Working up to the month of May with the first four road courses has gone really well for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing and Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. We’re working hard to make sure our cars are ready to start practice and qualify for the Indianapolis 500.”

A History of Excellence at IMS: Over Chip Ganassi Racing’s first 21 years of operation they have made 36 starts in the Indianapolis 500 and have brought home three victories (2000, 2008 and 2010), three poles, 11 top-fives and 21 top-10s at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. CGR’s most recent win was captured just last year by Dario Franchitti en route to winning the team’s third consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Graham Rahal and the No. 38 Service Central Team

Follow Graham on Twitter: Follow @GrahamRahal for updates as the driver of the No. 38 Service Central Honda completes his first season with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

NTB: The No. 38 Service Central car will support NTB – National Tire and Battery for the Indianapolis 500. NTB is an industry-leading tire retailer that specializes in tire and battery replacement as well as offering many enhanced mechanical services. For more information, please visit www.ntb.com.

Rahal and the 500: The 2011 Indianapolis 500 will be Rahal’s fourth start in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” after posting a career-best 12th-place finish in 2010. The 2011 race will also mark the 25th anniversary of Rahal’s father, Bobby Rahal’s only Indianapolis 500 win.

Making Indy 500 History: With a win, Rahal would tie Joe Dawson and Troy Ruttman as the youngest driver at age 22 to have ever won the Indianapolis 500.

D.A.D.S: Rahal will support D.A.D.S. Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome by placing their logo on his helmet for the Indianapolis 500.

Keeping Track: Rahal’s IZOD IndyCar Series career consists of 63 starts, two poles and one victory. This season he is seeking to add to Chip Ganassi Racings’ open wheel tallies of over 700 starts, 81 victories and 70 poles.

Making Points: After a second-place finish in Brazil, Rahal gained 12 positions in the IZOD IndyCar Series points standings and currently sits ninth.

Brazil Recap: Rahal started from fifth position and ran consistently in the top-five during the rain-delayed Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle. The No. 38 Service Central Honda crossed the finish line in second-place marking the best finish for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing.

Rahal on Brazil: “Overall, it was a great race for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing. It was kind of the same thing as St. Pete when I won in ’08. That year, Will Power hit me and I spun, and because of that we got off sequence. We were lucky that the No. 38 Service Central Honda was quick enough at the end and we were able to keep up with Will but not let Ryan Briscoe close in. We had to save a lot of fuel. I’m really proud of the Service Central guys.”

Cosmopolitan Bachelor: Rahal was recently named “Indiana’s Most Eligible Bachelor” for a fall issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Rahal, the Blogger: Keep up with Rahal as he provides his perspective on the Service Central team, his competitors and post-race recaps in season-long blogs with SPEEDTV.com and AutoWeek.com.

2011 STATS

Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Pts. Pos./(Prev)
Graham Rahal 4 0 0 1 1 9/21

CAREER STATS

Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s
Graham Rahal 63 1 2 13 32

TEAM ROSTERS

Mitch Davis – Team Manager

No. 38 (IndyCar)

Crew Chief (Air Jack): Matt Swan
Race Strategist: Tim Keene
Engineer: Martin Pare
Rear End (L/F): Dan Rushing
Assistant Engineer: Zack Eakin
Rear End (L/R): Pat Nelson
Tires/Transport Driver: Mike Briggs
R/R: Eric Prentice
Spotter: Lee Orebaugh
Front End (R/F): TBD
Gear Box: Mike LaFontain
Front End/Fueler: Trey Harkins

About Chip Ganassi Racing Teams

Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with sponsor, Target. Today, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams includes two entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, four in the IZOD IndyCar Series and one Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Cars Series. Overall his teams have 12 championships and 138 victories, including three Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and four Rolex 24 At Daytonas. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Ind. and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.

- Chip Ganassi Racing, Press Release