Target Leaving IndyCar And Chip Ganassi Racing After 27-Year Relationship


In a shocking move, Target is leaving IndyCar at the end of this season, ending a 27-year relationship with Chip Ganassi Racing. The Ganassi/Target relationship was one of the longest relationships in any racing series yielding four Indianapolis 500 victories and 11 championships. Target will remain in this partnership through next year.

Under the new Target chairman, Brian Cornell, Target is reexamining all of their marketing platforms. Target was there when Ganassi in the beginning when they sponsored the first Ganassi-team-owned car. The relationship became one of the top two in IndyCar.

Ganassi had nothing but thanks for the retail chain store when he spoke to the Associated Press. He understood that this was not personal. This was business.

“But it’s one of the longest running sponsors in racing and they delivered for me and the team, and the team delivered for them.”

Ganassi had nothing but wonderful things to say about Target. He also understood that Target wanted to take new risks and try out something new.

“It’s the greatest sponsor in racing, ever. They’ve been nothing but good to me. They developed me personally and professionally. I’ve developed lifelong friends and relationships. I understand things change and people have different marketing efforts, and the way they want to stamp their name on things.”

Senior vice president for Target, Scott Nygaard explained the company’s decision to move after nearly three decades.

“It was a really difficult decision that we made — we’ve been with Chip Ganassi Racing for 27 years and we are ridiculously proud of the success, But the Target brand is about being fresh and new, so we felt like this was the time to make the difficult decision and expand our sports marketing platform.”

Some of the highs in this Target/Ganassi partnership includes the first championship win by Jimmy Vasser, Juan Pablo Montoya winning the first Ganassi Indy 500, Alex Zanardi winning two championships, and for the past decade, racers Dario Franchitti (former husband of Ashley Judd) and Scott Dixon have been at the top.

New Zealand native Dixon has been spectacular in his performance. In his 15 years of sponsorship with Target, he has 39 career victories, which includes winning the 2008 Indianapolis 500. A four-time IndyCar champion, his name has been synonymous with Target.

“I can’t thank Target enough for their partnership on and off the track over the years. They have been with the IndyCar team for an amazing 27 years, which is unheard of in professional sports, and on the car I’ve driven for the past 15 seasons. I have nothing but great memories and much thanks for Target being great partners for so long.”

In return, Target was very pleased to have such a great partnership with Dixon.

“He is a true class act, a gentleman on and off the track. He’s always stood tall for the values of Target and the Target brand. He’s done more than we could ever ask for.”

As Dixon is “not a tough sell at all,” Ganassi does not anticipate that they will have any problem finding a sponsor to replace Target. They expect to make an announcement before October.

At this point, Target remains a primary sponsor of NASCAR’s Kyle Larson. The driver will return in 2017 with the top Sprint Cup Series. There is no indication that there will be any changes with their NASCAR sponsorship. Nyggard did not indicate if Target has replaced their IndyCar sponsorship with another. Instead, he stated that Target is “going through what that evolution of our sports marketing will be ‘in the future.'”

It should be interesting to see which direction Target will go.

Are you surprised that Target has left their longtime sponsorship of IndyCar? What is your favorite Target IndyCar racing moment?

[Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images]

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