By Lonnie Hugh Skinner

Team Offers Karting, Additional Motorsports Collaboration for CGR

INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 27, 2025) – Nitro Kart has partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) to become part of the team’s driver development program. Nitro offers the program opportunities to place drivers in championship-level equipment. The primary focus will be Nitro’s excellent cadet karting program.

Nitro joins Kiwi Motorsport and Palou Motorsport as partner teams in Chip Ganassi Racing’s driver development program. The partnership provides select support to the teams and allows drivers access to equipment at multiple levels of motorsport while they train, learn and grow with CGR.

Notes of Interest

• A Network of Champions: Nitro joins a network with Kiwi Motorsport and Palou Motorsport. Nitro is back-to-back champions in the Trans-Am Series Ta2 class, with additional entries across motorsports. Combined, CGR’s current partner teams have 11 championships since 2019.
• Formula For Success: Drivers in CGR’s driver development program receive mental, physical and technical training at CGR’s Indianapolis shop, home to 23 championships, including 16 INDYCAR championships, seven IMSA championships, five Indianapolis 500 victories, eight Rolex 24 at Daytona wins and more than 260 total race victories.
• Building the Next Generation: Formalized in November 2024, the program will allow CGR to identify talent competing with its partner teams at an earlier age and help provide a home for drivers as they develop in the CGR ecosystem. Drivers with partner teams will be included in CGR programs based out of its state-of-the-art shop in Indianapolis including physical, mental and media training, technical education, simulator training, business development and as a guest at select INDYCAR SERIES events.

Quoteboard

• Nick Tucker, Owner, Nitro Motorsports: “Nitro Kart has been the foundation for many of the very best up and coming drivers in motorsports as the leader in driver development. To partner with Chip Ganassi Racing strengthens our program and allows us to provide an unparalleled path for drivers to launch their careers. We look forward to the resources and opportunities this allows us as a group to use and develop drivers together with Chip Ganassi Racing.”
• Chris Wheeler, Driver Development, Chip Ganassi Racing: “To be able to align our program with Nitro is another important step in the overall strategy of what we are doing. To have a single partner team that operates at a high level in cadet karting, GR Cup and Trans-Am checks a lot of boxes. I have known Nick Tucker for a long time, and I have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s created. Nitro aligns well within our core values at CGR, and I look forward to what comes next.”

Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for more than 35 years and is considered one of the most successful and innovative owners in motorsports. Today, his teams include three cars in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and two entries in INDY NXT by Firestone. Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) has won 23 championships and more than 260 races, including five wins in the Indianapolis 500, eight Rolex 24 At Daytona victories, and wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. CGR boasts state-of-the-art facilities in Indianapolis, where the INDYCAR and INDY NXT teams are located, and a corporate office in Pittsburgh. For more information, visit ChipGanassiRacing.com.

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