With no immediate options to remain in IMSA’s hybrid GTP class, the Chip Ganassi Racing team is on the hunt for other opportunities to continue competing within the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s multi-class series.
The Indianapolis-based squad, which operates as the factory General Motors program under the Cadillac Racing banner, will bid farewell to the effort after Petit Le Mans in October. And while ongoing talks with manufacturers regarding future factory opportunities in 2026 or beyond are happening, CGR has set its sights on staying in IMSA next year in LMP2 or one of the GT classes.
“There might not be an immediate factory program for Chip Ganassi Racing to engage with, and so, we’re looking at classes like P2, and GT racing, which we did a lot of with the Ford GTs, as a good opportunity for us to find the next great race car driver or the next great partner for the company.” CGR director of operations Mike O’Gara (pictured above) told RACER.
“My goal is to keep the band together because we have an extraordinary group of people; it’s taken years to put this together. It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to get the right people in place and getting them all pushing in the same direction for a program. Both our IMSA and WEC teams are super strong. Everyone’s working together really well. We’re building fast race cars and proving it on both sides of the racing world. So we’re working to keep our group together and keep winning races for someone.”
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CGR’s IMSA leadership intends to start meeting in person with interested drivers and companies at the Aug. 2-4 IMSA weekend at Road America. O’Gara also looks to the growing number of privateer GTP programs as a possible area of expansion for the team.
“We’re open to the possibilities that are out there, and we don’t know what that could be until we hear from people about their interests in what we can do for them,” he said. “In a perfect world, someone that we can work with long term. And it may not be a factory opportunity for us, but if you look at some of the manufacturers who are in the GTP space and Hypercar space, there are a lot more of the relationships between a private owner who brings companies in to support those programs, or some drivers with budgets. Sort of a hybrid factory situation that uses additional funding.”
O’Gara says branching out into other IMSA classes is viewed as a long-term expansion for the team.
“If you look at the history of Chip Ganassi Racing, one our keys to success has been consistency,” he noted. “What we do next in the sports car space will be no different than that. Our goals remain the same as they’ve been, which is to win races and championships, and in the event that we have opportunities in multiple classes, that would remain the same.”