When Chip Ganassi made the jump from open-wheel racing to the top stock car series part way through the 2000 season, there were shudders of anticipation and concern in NASCAR garages source: Santa Cruz Sentinel - Mike Harris Here was a high-powered team owner, winner of an unprecedented four straight championships in the CART series in the '90s and winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500, making the move to stock cars and providing yet another major challenge to the top teams in what was then the Winston Cup series. Sure, Ganassi, who bought out 80 percent of the established team of Felix Sabates, was a newcomer to the ways of NASCAR, but his track record was that of an owner who knew how to meld winning drivers, top-notch personnel and big-time sponsors. In 2001, Ganassi's first full season as majority owner of the team and the year Dodge re-entered the series after a decades-long absence, a rejuvenated Sterling Marlin won two races and finished third in the points for the team. In 2002, Marlin nearly won the season-opening Daytona 500, picked up two more race wins and led the series points for 25 weeks until a neck injury from a crash in Kansas slowed him down and then prematurely ended his season. The complete article at Santa Cruz Sentinel
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