CONCORD, N.C. (January 21, 2008)-Polaroid shared the spotlight with a racing giant in North Carolina, as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates unveiled its full driver lineup at NASCAR’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway Media Tour. Team Owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates greeted the media with team management and crew chiefs spanning their Concord and Indianapolis-based shops to display an international lineup representing six countries, 12 series championships, 136 wins, three Indy 500 championships and five Rolex 24 wins. As a first-year sponsor of CGR, Polaroid has an opportunity to reach both a national and international racing audience like never before.

Notes of Interest

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Entering its eighth season under the CGRFS banner, the team returns with a three-car lineup. New to the operation is Competition Manager Steve Hmiel who brings over 30 years of motorsports experience.
• NASCAR Nationwide Series – Entering its fifth season, the team added two more wins to its tally in 2007. The program continues to play a crucial role in the overall education of the race team, from driver to pit crew members.
• IRL IndyCar Series – Entering its 19th season in American open wheel racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) returns under the guidance of the team’s Indianapolis-based Managing Director Mike Hull. After finishing second in the championship the past two years, TCGR adds a newcomer to its IndyCar arsenal.
• Scott Dixon (New Zealand), No. 9 Target Honda Dallara – The 2003 IndyCar champion’s hopes of a repeat title run came up short in the final lap of the 2007 season after recording four wins. Dan Wheldon (England), No. 10 Target Honda Dallara – The 2005 IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner took two races in 2007 before finishing fourth in IRL points.

CGRFS Quoteboard

Chip Ganassi, Team Owner
“It has never mattered to me a whole lot about where my drivers are from. We have one from the West coast, one from the mid-West and one from the East coast. We have a Colombian, a New Zealander, a Scot, a Mexican and two Brits but they were all brought here for only one reason and that was to WIN – pure and simple.”

Felix Sabates, Team Owner
“I’m very excited about this season. I know this (media tour) is primarily a NASCAR event, but we just couldn’t help but to showcase all of our race cars and talent. This is going to be tremendous year for this organization across the board, because we are going to win and we’re going to win a lot. Not only because of these guys on the stage, but because of the guys at this table (points to crew chiefs and GM’s). Chip pretty much said it all and I can’t wait to get the season started.”

Steve Lauletta, President
“Chip does a good job explaining why he goes out and finds these drivers and that is because they are the best in the world. We all know it takes a lot of funding to run this sport and we need to develop a story for how to translate this talent and go out and take care of our current sponsors as well as new ones. I’ve spent a majority of my career working on the sponsor side of the business and the first thing I would always ask, whether it was an NFL team or a baseball team or racing team is, what makes you different from anybody else? As you can see, we are different and we’re excited about telling that story.