Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks shares his bold strategy for acquiring Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team, discusses the charter agreement

Justin Marks, the co-owner of Trackhouse Racing, recently touched upon how he acquired the NASCAR operations from Chip Ganassi Racing and transformed his team into a force to reckon with. Trackhouse Racing, the team that started with a leased charter from Spire Motorsports back in 2021, is all set to compete with three charters in 2025.

Marks sat with former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick recently to discuss everything from the foundation of Trackhouse Racing to its running and the plans for his organization's future. During their conversation in the Happy Hour podcast, Marks unraveled how the talks with Chip Ganassi progressed and how he firmly established Trackhouse Racing.

In one of the questions, Harvick asked Marks how the latter approached Ganassi to speak about the charters and operations. Replying to this, the 43-year-old stated that Ganassi was going through a tough time after losing out sponsor DC Solar and driver Kyle Larson around 2021.

These made it easier for him to place his bets before Ganassi and reveal his plans. However, Marks wasn't oozing confidence and went straight to the owner of Chip Ganassi Racing and unfurled the ambitions. Here's what he did instead:

"So I just dropped my kid at school and I was driving back to the house and I called him and I said, 'you know look I have big dreams, and big plans and big ambitious vision for my company," Marks said. "But I'm not gonna get there if I don't make a serious investment'."

"I just said 'you know if figuring out a way to do something here around your charters is something you're willing to have an adult discussion about, then I'd love to have the opportunity to have that discussion. It's basically how I framed it." (17:33-18:03)

Following Justin Marks' proposal, Chip Ganassi agreed to sit for a discussion with the former over NASCAR operations. Citing the reason, Ganassi, who had enormous success as a team owner, said he was getting older, and at that age, it was hard for him to tackle every side such as NASCAR, Sports car, and IndyCar.

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Justin Marks opened up on Trackhouse Racing's third charter

Justin Marks drives through Turn 14 during Trans Am practice Friday, July 7, 2023, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Source: Imagn

Up until 2024, Trackhouse Racing has two charters. One for Ross Chastain and the other for Daniel Suarez. However, next season, their Cup Series charter count is set to reach three as they brought Shave van Gisbergen on board for the #88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Speaking about why Trackhouse Racing increased its charter, Marks said,

"The real sweet spot if you're gonna build a strong organization with some longevity and competitiveness in the sport, I think that sweet spot is three cars." (04:50-04:55)

Besides the Cup Series, Trackhouse also competes in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series and takes part in MotoGP. In the two-wheel racing series, they field two bikes for Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira.