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Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Announces 2006 Driver Lineup

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced its 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver lineup today at Watkins Glen. Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, David Streeme and newcomer Reed Sorenson will pilot the Ganassi Dodge Chargers next season.

Mears will move to the Home 123 Dodge Charger. Sorenson will move up from the Busch Series and drive the Target Dodge, while McMurray will continue to drive the Texaco/Havoline Dodge and Stremme will drive the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger.

CHIP GANASSI – “I’m excited about Home 123. They’re an industry leader and we’re looking forward to expanding their involvement with us. We’re also fortunate to have a guy like Casey in their car. As a lot of you know, I’m a big fan of Casey’s and we think he’s one of the fastest guys out there. As he said, his first three years in Cup have been a little bit up and down. I’d like to think they’ve mostly been up though. I was certainly pleased with his performance last weekend at Indianapolis. I think he passed about 65 cars there, a lot of them two or three times. We’re as committed as ever with surrounding him with quality people for his team and certainly the Home 123 team. We’re proud to do a multi-year deal with an industry-leader like themselves. It’s important to understand that teams today, certainly a lot of media of late about teams and their size and interest and how they look going forward and how they look back. I hope today’s announcement will clear up a lot of things for the media.

“Reed will be driving the Target Dodge next season in the Nextel Cup Series, and we also think Reed is a racing talent. It’s been a pleasure to watch him develop and grow off the track. All of today’s happenings with Home 123, Casey and Reed could not be done without the help of Target. Target continues to redefine the word partnership and their support the last few years has certainly been part of Reed’s development and other people in our development series. I want to take a particular moment to point out Lorin Ranier. Lorin has spearheaded our driver development program, and today you’re seeing the culmination of that. We’re looking forward to what the future holds for Reed.

“Sterling Marlin is not here this morning, and his father is not doing too well. He flew out of here last night to go back home to be with Coo Coo. (David Stremme will practice the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge on Friday). None of this could happen today without the steadfast support of Sterling Marlin since I got in partners with Felix. A lot needs to be said there about that man.

“My last announcement, with four drivers under 30 years old, we’re checking a rumor right now that NASCAR Nation is going to be moved over to MTV next year. There’s no truth to that, but I did hear that rumor.

“I talked about Lorin Ranier a little bit earlier. There’s a guy that I can’t tell you the tremendous amount of work Lorin has done for our organization since 2001. I’m pretty proud to have him as part of my team. I’ll go back to when Andy (Graves) introduced me to Lorin. When he was introduced to me I said, ‘what does he do?’ Andy couldn’t really give me a straight answer about what Lorin does. He does a little bit of this and a little bit of that. After meeting Lorin and spending about an hour with him he thinks just like an owner. He probably got that from his father (former Cup owner Harry Ranier). In fact, I’m sure he got that from his father. A big thank you there for the training program there that I didn’t have to go through with Lorin and kudos to his father for doing that. What you see up here today is from a lot of work from a guy who sits around and watches races on TV a lot and takes notes and tells me about them. He certainly helps me in a manner around our race team that nobody else can, and I want to say a special thanks to him.

“We have a first-rate team. We have world-class sponsors and talented drivers. I think we’ve got the best team of people in the business that are under our roof. We’re bringing together our engine program in our facility next year and most importantly I can’t say enough about the great people we have throughout the organization. I know a lot of people in the media look for the results week in and week out, and I can tell you they’re a lot of victories on this team that maybe don’t show up in the results. For that, I’m very bullish about our future and very bullish about this series and where this team is going.”

WHY GO TO FOUR DRIVERS? “Obviously I don’t have to speak to a youth movement. Everybody has been all over that for a couple of years. We’re just in a position where the opportunity is there to do that and with the opportunity there, you’d hate to pass it up like that when you’ve got good drivers. You don’t want to let them go. You want to grow your team. Testing helps. There is some cookie cutter ability when you have multi cars. A lot of things work from car to car. A lot of things don’t work from car to car. There is that element to it.”

HOW DETERMINED ARE YOU TO KEEP JAMIE? “It was kind of an interesting week. I think some other people know how I feel now. Again, it’s something that’s not on our radar screen. His status has always been the same. That’s what he and I spoke of and that’s all we’ve ever spoke of. I think that’s something that’s cranked up among your brothering (media).”

IF HE (McMURRAY) ISN’T HAPPY WHY NOT LET HIM GO? “I’m not happy about a lot of things either, but I don’t leave. Every time I get unhappy do I leave? No.”

IF THE TALENT POOL HAD BEEN BETTER WOULD IT HAVE BEEN A LITTLE DIFFERENT? “In a lot of sports there is a dilution of talent. People think in major league baseball there are too many teams. With the explosive growth of motorsports I’d have to agree there’s a dilution of talent out there across the board in all series. As much as we love racing, I don’t know that the world needs more series. It needs fewer series so we can have more better drivers.”

WHY ARE WE SEEING EXPLOSION OF FREE AGENCY? “It’s a year and a half down the line and someday it’ll be two years down the line. I know that Mr. Penske is a quick study. Far be it for me to say what they, and I assume you’re speaking about NASCAR, need to do. I’m happy with what they’re doing. I’m happy with how they run things. I’ve been through that thing with sanctioning bodies and they do the best job of anybody.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU HEARD ABOUT THE KURT BUSCH TRADE? “I have to admit that I had a bit of a snicker run across my face.”

WHAT HAS IT DONE TO THE SPORT WITH A GUY SIGNING A CONTRACT A YEAR AHEAD OF TIME? “I don’t think it’s affected the sport at all. It seems to be affecting the media a lot more. I don’t see it as as big of a story as you guys do.”

WHAT WILL YOU DO CREW WISE WITH FOUR TEAMS? “We certainly have the crew chiefs in our building and when they shake out we haven’t decided yet, but everybody is there and everybody is going to be there.”

COMMENT ON FOUR DRIVERS YOUNGER THAN 30 “It’s exciting to have young guys. They bring something new to the track every day. Some things you like, some things you don’t. They certainly keep you on your toes, and there’s a lot to be said for that. I like that excitement.”

DO YOU SEE STRUCTURE OF CONTRACTS CHANGING? “It’s interesting. I saw the other day where John Madden is going from Monday night football to NBC in 2007. Does that mean people in 2006 aren’t going to listen to him or what he says doesn’t mean anything? That’s not true at all. You guys always use the term lame duck. I don’t know what a lame duck guy is. Does that mean if he comes across the finish line and they say he’s a lame duck does that mean he can’t win today? Nobody says that. I don’t really understand that. No one talks about John Madden. When are you guys going to start talking about him?”

WHY ADD A CAR? “Because I’ve got a lot of good people on my team. Whether it’s drivers or people under the roof I’ve got some great people and I want to keep them gainfully employed.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT CASEY MEARS? “What I like about him is what you saw last week in Indianapolis. He got up in the dirt and did a little flat tracking. He passed about 60 cars, and I thought that was pretty impressive. I just like the guy. I like his attitude. He’s low maintenance. He’s fast.”

CASEY MEARS – “I’m excited to be a part of the Home 123 family for their first full season in Nextel Cup. I’m excited about the whole program. We’re stepping up to a four-car program with Reed and Stremme stepping up as new teammates and working again with Jamie McMurray. I don’t think you could ask for a better team. I’ve had opportunities to work with Stremme and Reed off and on. I worked with Jamie all last year. We all share information very well. I think it’s going to be a great team environment, and I think we’ll be able to help each other out. I’m very excited about the whole deal. I want to thank Chip and Felix for building another car for me this coming season. It’s been a long three years, and obviously I feel very fortunate to be a part of the Chip Ganassi organization. Chip and Felix have been standing behind me for the last three years. We’re going into another full season of racing next year, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’m looking forward to 2006.

REED SORENSON – “I’d like to thank Chip and Felix for giving me this opportunity. It’s a lifelong dream I’ve had. I think every kid growing up is dreaming to get to the NASCAR level, and I’m just going to do the best job I can and try to make the most of it. I want to thank Lorin for giving me and David an opportunity to be a part of this organization. Hopefully we’ll make him feel like he made a good decision. As far as my teammates go I feel like these three guys up here are the three best teammates anyone could have. David has been a good friend to me this year, and we’ve been working together well in the Busch Series. Casey has been helping me and so has Jamie. They’re going to be able to help me Dodge some problems next year and make that transition to the Nextel Cup level. I’m excited to represent my sponsors, Target and Discount Tire, next year. I’m looking forward to be able to be very competitive in both series, and I can’t wait to see what we can do.”

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RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger)

COMMENT ON 2007 TEAMMATE KURT BUSCH “I’m not really sure 100 percent what to say. I think that Kurt is a good guy. I think Kurt is an excellent driver, and he’s proved that by winning the championship. I think the situation I’ve had with Rusty in the past, having a teammate that at least isn’t working against me will be a definite benefit, so we’ll take it for what it’s worth. It’s a tough business and sometimes a conflicting business when it comes to teammates. I’ve seen the way Kurt reacts and acts with Roush Racing, and I think what he’ll do with Penske Racing will be just fine and we can all get along and be good teammates.”

DO YOU KNOW KURT WELL? “For whatever reason Kurt and I have a lot of respect for each other, and I think that stems back to my first win at Loudon. Just talking to him after the race he said, ‘I gave you a little nudge and that’s all I ever do. If you can hang onto it after that then it’s your race unless you screw up.’ We’ve had a lot of respect for each other. We’ve gotten into accidents on the racetracks, but it’s because somebody else caused them and put us in the wall. We’ve had a lot of respect for each other. We’re clean drivers. You don’t see us out there purposely crashing other cars.”

COMMENT ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2006 “I’m not sure what’s going on there with that. That’s a new thing this year as far as how drivers are signing up. I guess there’s for sure a situation where we shouldn’t model ourself off every other sport, because there is some question marks. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that. I don’t think it would be just a driver. I don’t think Roger Penske or anybody at Penske Racing would put a driver in there to fill a seat. I don’t think that’s the purpose of having a teammate or running for the championship.”

YOUR CONTRACT IS SET? “I’m good. I’ve got no worries for myself, and that’s all I’m worried about, but I also have to consider what’s going on with everybody at Penske Racing. It’s been kinda crazy. You’ve seen some drivers shop themselves around trying to get the best deal, and you’ve seen other drivers you never even hear. I’m not 100 percent sure this is right, but you never hear Bobby Labonte signing up or doing things like that. It just kinda happens. He’s not in it for that, but some drivers are. The some drivers that are and because they are good drivers they’re changing the way owners have to react to the situation of resigning a contract. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it’s definitely a change we’ve seen the last five years I’ve been in here.”

WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW KURT WAS BEING CONSIDERED? “I was kept informed by Roger and Roger didn’t know for sure obviously until the deal was signed. It was an ongoing process. I don’t know a specific date, but I knew some of the things that were going on and I kept it quiet because Roger asked me to and that’s just the kind of person I am. It’s a tough situation. Almost the same thing happened in reverse with me, not because I was wanting to move some place but because somebody was trying to hire me for something. I’ve heard some grumblings of drivers in the Roush camp that are kinda upset about Kurt leaving and that’s good information for me to know that he’s at least wanted as a teammate.”

WHY DID YOU STAY WITH PENSKE? “Mostly just Don Miller, Roger Penske, Matt Borland and the cars that I drive and also the obvious with them giving me an opportunity in the beginning to do what I do and do what I love to do. That loyalty is huge, but the people are what make the difference. The cars are built after the people are put together. If you’ve got good people you’ll have good cars. With all the things Don Miller has done for me, and obviously Matt Borland. To have a crew chief who is also the best man in your wedding and do all the things we’ve done to get to victory lane and win so many poles that’s awesome. Obviously Roger doesn’t need to be sold. He’s been around auto racing for so long and has such a name, that’s kinda a given.”

WILL THE CREWS REMAIN THE SAME? “I’m not sure, and that’s a good question. I know every body on the 2 car now is built around Rusty Wallace because Rusty calls the shots. To me that’s not the ideal team sport. If I was Kurt I’d definitely want to understand what I was getting as a team.”

DID YOU PUT IN A WORD FOR MATT KENSETH? “A lot of drivers were considered, and I know, I’ll say this, from what I was told Kurt thought the Penske organization was an ideal organization. He understands Roger’s motivations and motives to try to win a championship. That’s also part of the reason I enjoy being part of it.”

IS IT A PRIORITY TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING GETS OFF TO A GOOD START? “Yes and no. You can’t make sure of that. That’s the no part. Yeah, it’d be nice, but there’s no guarantee. We could go into the first corner at Daytona in testing and wipe each other out. You just never know. I think as we’ve had in the past, Kurt and I have a lot of respect for each other.”

IS THERE A NEED FOR A LEAD DRIVER? “I don’t like at it like that. As I’ve said before it’s three individual teams under one roof and we all act as a big team in other functions, but me being the senior driver at Penske in the future won’t be the determining factor in being the lead dog. It’s all about each individual driver being with their team and getting along and that’s what creates the ultimate results. You go to a dance with your dance partner. You don’t dance with other people. In a roundabout way you stay focused on what you have to do as a team to win. The whole idea of what everybody talks about as teams working together is OK, but everybody for the most part – Roger Penske and Jack Roush – talk about the resources and getting the money together to have the resources to be able to have the right products to be able to build and the technology to build the best cars so you can hire the best people with the biggest amount of money and create the best teams. Not much is said about the drivers sharing the setups and things like that. I think it’s more about the resources part of it and that’s my approach.”

PEOPLE EXPECT YOU TO WIN. WHY HAVEN’T YOU WON? “We’re just building drama. TNT is paying us under the table. (Said in jest). We’ve no doubt had our struggle points this year and Indianapolis no doubt was the biggest one. We’ve learned a lot of things. We also had more struggles than we thought we’d have with the Dodge body. If you look at the standings, there’s only been one Dodge in victory lane, and that’s not the way it’s been the past three or four years – especially at this point in the season. We’re doing our best to adapt and work. In a roundabout way I think we’re playing a little game of catchup. Once we get caught up we’ll splatter a little mustard on ‘em. We’d rather be first and have no wins or we’d rather be first and have a bunch of wins preferably. For the season we’ve had, it’s almost amazing we are seventh in points.”

TALKING ABOUT DRIVING FOR ROGER PENSKE “It’s all about experience, and Roger has huge experience at racetracks with race drivers and race teams and understanding the business from a financial standpoint as well as from a mechanical standpoint. To walk into our new shop and see how it’s laid out to benefit the teams, that’s huge. The little things he does versus the big things he does like building that new shop, that’s what makes the difference as far as building a championship team in my opinion.”

DID ROGER ASK YOUR OPINION ABOUT KURT? “Yes, but I don’t think he made any decisions off my opinion, but he definitely wanted to know what I thought about certain situations and he thought it was important obviously because of the whole teammate situation. Like I said, I’m better off having a teammate that doesn’t even talk or does anything than one that works against me, and that’s what I’ve had to deal with the last five years.”

DO YOU LIKE THE WAY KURT DRIVES? “Kurt is a very good driver. He’s a very smart driver. I think in some ways we have a lot in common and in some ways we don’t have a lot of things in common. Having things that aren’t in common you can learn a lot of things from each other.”

COMMENT ON KURT’S MATURITY “Kurt has definitely matured a lot. I on the other hand have not had to. I’ve been mature the whole time. Anyway, Kurt’s definitely matured a lot I think off his whole situation with Jimmy Spencer and everything you learn from. If you’re not learning you’re going backwards. I think right now Kurt is a very mature individual.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU HEARD THEY HIRED KURT? “I kinda knew what was going on, and I knew they were searching for a driver and had worked on getting a couple of deals going and it never happened. When it did happen it was OK, go with the flow.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED THEY SIGNED A DRIVER THE CALIBER OF BUSCH? “I wouldn’t say surprised, knowing all the things that had been going on, looking at McMurray’s deal with Roush and what may happen with Mark Martin and all that stuff. At this point you never know what’s going on. We’ll talk at some point, but he (Busch) is in a difficult situation with continuing out his contract and doing whatever he has to do, whatever it is. We also have a championship to win and he has a championship to win. We both look at it that way, but it’ll be interesting how the relationship begins.”