Respect fuels Penske-Ganassi rivalry

[Schwartz Fan]

Respect fuels Penske-Ganassi rivalry
Posted: Tuesday May 23, 2006 12:17AM; Updated: Tuesday May 23, 2006 12:18AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The renewed rivalry between Marlboro Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing has heated up nicely heading into the Indianapolis 500.

Penske driver Helio Castroneves leads the IRL IndyCar Series points standings after winning two of the first three races of the season, and teammate Sam Hornish Jr. has dominated the speed charts at Indianapolis this month, easily winning the pole for Sunday's race, with Castroneves second.

Dan Wheldon, last year's IRL and Indy champion, whom Ganassi plucked from Andretti Green Racing over the winter, won the opener at Homestead and is second in the points. He and his teammate, 2003 series champ Scott Dixon, will start third and fourth.

Wheldon pooh-poohed the team rivalry a bit, saying, "It just happens to be that the Ganassi cars and the Penske cars are the ones up front in these four races."

But the Englishman acknowledges a little friendly rivalry could certainly make the race more interesting.

"I think what's good about these two teams as the top two teams is the respect that both our teams have for one another," Wheldon said. "I think the rivalry is good, but what makes this one pretty special is it's very respectful and it will remain that way."

Team owners Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi have a lot in common.

Both own teams that race in the IRL and in NASCAR, both are former drivers and each of them has had considerable success in business outside of racing.

But, when it comes to the Indianapolis 500, Ganassi can't touch Penske.

Penske Racing heads into the 90th running of the 500 with a record 13 victories. The pole by Hornish also was a record 13th for Penske, and with his drivers starting 1-2, The Captain has had a total of 33 front-row starters -- another number nobody comes close to -- since he first arrived here in 1969.

Penske, a top notch sports car driver before he became a team owner, never drove at Indy, so Ganassi, the fastest rookie in 1982 and a veteran of five Indy races, has an edge there. But, as an owner, he only has one pole (Arie Luyendyk in 1993) and two wins (Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 and Juan Montoya in 2000).

Another thing the two owners have in common is that both of their teams struggled last year while racing with underpowered Toyota engines that kept them a step behind the IRL's Honda-powered teams.

Now, Toyota is gone -- giving its attention in the U.S. to preparing for its entry into NASCAR's Nextel Cup and Busch Series in 2007. Honda is the only engine competing in the IRL this year, giving everyone the same horsepower and allowing the Penske and Ganassi teams to regain their previous status as elite operations.

The result is the renewal of a great rivalry that developed when both teams were in the rival CART -- now Champ Car -- series in the late 1990s.

Penske already has three wins when Ganassi first came to the speedway as a driver.

"Certainly Roger set a standard in those days that a lot of us are still chasing," Ganassi said. "I certainly have a lot of respect for Roger, as I'm sure everyone does.

"He's been great for this formula of racing over the years. He's obviously been a staunch supporter of open-wheel racing in the United States, and you could argue it wouldn't be what it is today without him."

Penske said he has plenty of admiration for Ganassi, whose team won an unprecedented four straight championships in CART from 1996-99. Penske won the next two CART title with Gil de Ferran.

But, by 2003, both teams were in the IRL full-time.

"I've always enjoyed racing against Chip's teams because they race you hard and fair," Penske said. "They are innovative and always working hard.

"Maybe we've got a little bit of an edge on them right now, but it's not enough of an edge to be comfortable. Sunday should be a great race and we'd like to win it, of course. But the Ganassi team is going to be hard to beat."

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