Ganassi reflects on merger, changes and state of sport (cont'd)

Q: With Danica Patrick about to take a shot at NASCAR, how do you reflect on your 2009 IndyCar champion, Dario Franchitti's NASCAR attempt in 2008 and with him saying he would be game to try it again -- but not until he's off the pace in the IRL?

Franchitti

Ganassi: I look back at that whole thing fondly. Sure, it didn't turn out like we wanted it to, but I'll tell you what -- it made us all grow. It was good for our team and it was good for him. Did it turn out like we wanted it to? No. But it was a learning experience that in the end everything worked out.

With him coming back to the IRL and winning the championship, a movie writer couldn't have done a better job at scripting that. I think too many people look at success or failure in wins and losses in this business.

Certainly you've got to have wins and you've got to be at the front if you're going to be around this business for any length of time. But there are a lot of good stories and a lot of successes in NASCAR that Hendrick and Gibbs don't have a monopoly on. There are a lot of successes out there that you don't read about or you don't hear about.

There's only one winner, but that doesn't mean there's only one story. I certainly think success can be measured in other ways.

Q: What do you feel is the most significant issue facing the sport in 2010?

Ganassi: I think the biggest issue facing the sport [of racing] is the biggest issue facing all of sports. Can all sports stay relevant during a downturn in the economy?

I think all sports are going to pay, somewhat, for the off-season trials and tribulations of Tiger Woods. Basically the rest of the world is finding out what a lot of us in sports know already, and that is that all these athletes are real people.

We all like to look up to them and we all want to worship them or we all wish we could perform like they do. At the end of the day, though, when you're involved in sports you realize that they are just humans also.

I'm a fan of Tiger Woods for his golf, and I never really gave his home life a second thought. Apparently some people find that interesting.

Q: As you talk with your stock car competition people, what do they feel the impact of this upcoming spoiler change is going to be?

Ganassi: The one thing I've not heard anybody say about going to a spoiler on the new car is that a wing and a spoiler both give downforce to a car. A wing is more efficient downforce because a spoiler is just that -- the reason they call a spoiler a 'spoiler' is because it spoils the air.

A wing gives you downforce but it's much cleaner air. The air flows over the top of a wing and underneath it smoothly. I think the spoiler is going to improve the racing because it's going to punch a bigger hole in the air.

I think what [NASCAR] realized is that with these wings the cars don't punch as big a hole in the air and that's why you see, on a lot of these mile-and-a-halfs that clean air is your friend and dirty air is not your friend. The further you get back in the pack, the dirtier the air is. With the spoiler, it'll make more dirtier air near the front of the pack and my guess is it'll bring the pack closer together. I applaud NASCAR for saying 'hey, let's change it.'

Q: What's your thought on the rules in place for Speedweeks and the Daytona 500, including relaxing restrictions on bump drafting and increasing the size of the restrictor plate?

Ganassi: Let's face it, that's probably a question better asked of a driver than a team owner. I don't care what configuration we've come to, and I've only been around this sport since 2001 or something -- but it seems like whatever configuration you come to Daytona or Talladega with, the fact of the matter is you're trying to hang on and stay in one piece until you can get to the white flag lap [laughing].

And then all hell seems to break loose. I'm just trying to get my cars to the end of the day at those places.

Q: How are you looking at the Budweiser Shootout, where you've got both your cars in? Are you looking to work on anything in particular, where it's the first time for Jamie and Juan to race as teammates?

Ganassi: I feel very fortunate that both guys are in the Shootout and again, that's going to be one more way to learn things that you can apply during the [Daytona] 500. I've said this before, learning in this business is like laying bricks: It's one brick at a time.

You can't skip five rows. You have to go each row on top of each row on top of each row. There's no fast way to do it, it's never changed and that's what I like about it.

Q: What's your take on the Chase for the Sprint Cup format? Going into the season it's pretty hard to pick 12 guys who'll make it when legitimately as many as 20 have a great shot at it.

Ganassi: I've been on both ends of it. I think it's good in that someone developed a playoff format for racing. A purist would say 'no, we want to go to the old way of doing things.' And someone that's interested in the sport would say 'you've got to stay with this playoff format.'

It's probably like what someone said about a democracy one time: 'It's not the best form of government, but I can't think of a better one.'

Do I feel it's the best playoff format? No, but I can't think of a better one [laughing], so...