Chip Ganassi isn’t a big fan of the two-race Chevrolet Indy Dual In Detroit, however during a recent visit to Detroit to celebrate Chevrolet’s motorsports achievements, the IndyCar team owner said the weekend should be shortened to just one race.
Citing the difficulty of doing two races back-to-back with minimal practice as reasoning, Ganassi said he appreciates all that fellow team owner Roger Penske has done to bring the race back to Detroit, but it would be a more enjoyable event if there was only one race day.
“It should be one race, like every other race,” Ganassi told The Detroit Free Press. “I appreciate what Roger’s done. I love him. I appreciate what he’s done for the town. I appreciate what he’s trying to do for the city. Appreciate all the hard work — make sure you put all this in there — but please let’s go to a one-day race.”
“It’s too hard on the teams,” he added. “It doesn’t really accomplish anything. If you have a bad day, it can be really tough, and both Roger and I have had bad days at the Detroit Grand Prix. I don’t know why that has to be the one lone dual event.”
IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 this year, echoed Ganassi’s sentiments.
“Physically, it’s hard,” he said. “It’s hard, because we’ve got very little practice. You practice a little bit, qualify and race, and qualify and race. It’s like you can’t really get it wrong, because the penalty is huge. It’s an important weekend in a way that you’ve gotta be smart about not losing a lot of points.”
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