Trackhouse Drops a Bombshell

It wasn't even for sale.

Chip Ganassi's NASCAR operation, that is.

Then along came Trackhouse Racing and Justin Marks (co-owner with Pitbull). Marks called Ganassi out of the blue to pitch his deal.

"He made me a great offer that required my attention," Ganassi told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"I felt there was a lot of energetic thought being put into what Justin was saying,'' Ganassi said. "With all the new blood that seems to be coming into the sport now with Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, maybe Keselowski, Tony Stewart has a team and Jeff Gordon getting back involved, the sport is ready for a new group. We talk about a new generation of drivers, but I think you're going to see a new generation of owners.''

Ganassi's IndyCar team (which he will keep) is a four-car program that includes six-time series champion Scott Dixon and current points leader Alex Palou. He will run this branch from his Indianapolis shop next season. The North Carolina shop will convey to Marks, although he plans to move it to Nashville by 2023.

Ganassi's NASCAR operation previously won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, two of the biggest races in the sport, with Jamie McMurray in 2010. He currently has a pair of Chevrolets driven by Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain, both of whom were told of the sale on Wednesday. Trackhouse will run two vehicles in 2022, naming Daniel Suarez as one of the drivers. There has been no mention (but a lot of speculation) over who the second driver might be.

And...where will their third (unused) charter go?

Stay tuned.