Along about February 2004, during an IndyCar test at Phoenix, the car lowered from the top of a Ganassi hauler might as well have been landing from outer space. There it was, all bubble-topped and gull-winged, sitting in the asphalt in the middle of PIR amid a parking lot of single-seat machines and curious onlookers.
Intended for a test later in the week at Firebird, the red-and-white Lexus Riley sports car quickly drew a crowd. Other racers. Other crew members. Even the Ganassi mechanics themselves gawked at the machine, as if half-expecting a gray being with big eyes and long fingers to emerge and ask for directions to their leader.
Three years and two Rolex 24s later, nobody on Chip Ganassi’s team is gawking at the world of sports cars. That notion was put to bed long before Scott Pruett crossed the finish line with the No. 01 Lexus Riley and the team’s second consecutive triumph in the race. Given the talent behind the wheel – Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Salvador Duran this time; Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Casey Mears in 2006 – the two Rolex titles aren’t terribly surprising.
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