Ganassi Seeking A Return To Rolex 24 Glory

Chip Ganassi hopes to break a nine-year drought in the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend. (IMSA photo)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chip Ganassi, the man whose team fields the No. 01 Cadillac that’s been quickest overall in practice this week for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, is used to winning.

In fact, Chip Ganassi Racing entries have laid claim to eight Rolex 24 wins over the years at Daytona Int’l Speedway. Six of those have been overall triumphs in the ever-evolving top prototype classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but the most recent one was in 2015.

The boss feels CGR is overdue for another overall win, and believes he has the car and driver lineup to do it in Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, and Alex Palou.

However, he doesn’t want to jinx it.

“It’s like, ‘Man, we’ve got a good car, we’ve got a good group of guys, [and we] seem to be pretty fast,” Ganassi said Friday. “We sure don’t want to (mess) this up!’ If we’re there at 23 hours and one piece (breaks), that’s all it takes.”

How does his team get back to victory lane at the World Center of Racing?

“Lots of talking, lots of just getting everybody in the same room, [having] everybody on the same page, [and] everybody rowing the boat in the right direction – in sync,” Ganassi tipped. “There’s no magic to it; it’s just doing the obvious things right.

“There’s no pixie dust around here. It’s just good, solid blocking and tackling.

What would it mean to the team owner to be on the top step of the Rolex 24 podium once again?

“It would feel pretty good,” he said. “I kind of miss it there; it’s been a while since we’ve won, so I’m about ready.”

Coverage of the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on NBC, with 16 and a half of the 24 hours of racing televised between NBC and USA Network.

Flag-to-flag coverage can be viewed through Peacock, NBC’s subscription-based streaming service.