Chip Ganassi Racing ready to take E-racing to extreme

Fox Chapel native Chip Ganassi has never been one to shy away from innovation, and earlier this week his racing team announced its next adventurous endeavor.

After celebrating its 30th anniversary earlier this year, Chip Ganassi Racing revealed it will be joining its first electrical racing venture, confirming its 2021 entry into Extreme E, a new innovative off-road racing series that will have 550-horsepower electric SUVs competing in extreme environments around the world that have been damaged or affected by climate and environmental issues.

The 2021 Extreme E race schedule will have stops in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, the mountains of Nepal, Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia, and Lac Rose near Dakar, Senegal.

“The idea of going from the Sahara Desert, to the rain forest, to the arctic, to the mountains of Nepal, I think it makes for a pretty exciting show and an exciting package for television,” Ganassi said.

Over the course of time, Ganassi became one of the most successful innovative owners in the sport. So, when the opportunity arose for CGR to get in on the ground floor of one of the most innovative leagues in the sport, he couldn’t pass it up.

“The exciting thing in motorsports, for me, is innovation and that’s what I find exciting about Extreme-E,” Ganassi said. “Innovation is what built this country. It’s what built the automotive business and I think the car companies are the fuel for motorsports worldwide. This is just another example of what can happen with a proper E-platform.”

But that wasn’t the only reason why this opportunity was so exciting for Ganassi. About three or four years ago, CGR was trying to join the FIA Formula E Championship, which is run by the same company as Extreme-E. At the time, the CGR had resources tied up in another program, so when the opportunity came along a second time, there was no hesitation.

“It was right at the same time that we had another program starting to bear fruit in our business, it was our 4GT program,” Ganassi said. “It took up the oxygen that we needed to do Formula E, so we sort of missed on the first go-around. So, when the same group came out with the Extreme E platform, we said ‘Yea, we’re in.’ ”

Extreme E isn’t just demonstrating its innovation with their cars or where they will be racing, but with who is driving the cars as well. Marking a first in motor racing, the newest electric car series will have teams field male and female drivers in its races. They will compete together as driver and co-driver and each must drive one of the two laps.

Extreme E will also house their teams on a floating garage. The RMS St. Helena, which is a former Royal Mail cargo-passenger vessel, will transport the championships teams and infrastructure to the nearest port of each Extreme E race.

“It’s a really well thought out platform and definitely has some legs,” Ganassi said.

The series will begin with its first race at Lac Rose, Dakar, Senegal on Jan. 23-24, 2021.