Jim McGee is quick to announce “it’s just weekends” that he’s assisting the No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing team as the race strategist for Ryan Briscoe.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and Auto Racing Hall of Fame member, who has accumulated 90 USAC and CART victories and four Indianapolis 500 wins as a chief mechanic and team manager over five decades, joined the team for the 98th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 25 and will continue “for as long as they’ll have me.”
“It was kind of spur of the moment,” said McGee of joining the team. “I was doing an autograph session with Chip at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway and he asked what was I doing Race Day, and I said I would take my grandchildren to look at some of the cars and then would go home and watch it on television. He said, ‘No, no, you’re not going to do that. Why don’t you come over to our group and spend a little time with Ryan and the crew.’
“I tested with Ryan back in 2008 and I’ve known a lot of the guys, such as (race engineer) Eric Cowdin and (chief mechanic) Ricky Davis for a long time. So I joined them for Indy and we had a pretty good result (advanced 12 positions to finish 18th). It was a lot of fun and if I can add a little bit to the program and help out it’s great.
“I’ve also known Chip for a number of years. He drove for us and it’s such a great organization.”
Briscoe, who returned to Chip Ganassi Racing full time in the Verizon IndyCar Series this year after a six-year absence, qualified fifth for the second round of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. He also started fifth in the opening race May 31, led five laps, but got caught out by a yellow flag and made his final pit stop late in the 70-lap race to finish 15th.
McGee entered the sport in 1960 as a protege of noted chief mechanic Clint Brawner on the Dean Van Lines team. Brawner later promoted McGee to co-chief, where he became an integral part of many of Mario Andretti’s race victories in the late 1960s, including Andretti’s 1969 Indianapolis 500 triumph.
McGee also worked as a chief mechanic for Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing and Team Penske, and was race strategist for Patrick Racing and Newman/Haas Racing.
During his career as a mechanic and strategist, he worked with some of the sport’s most outstanding drivers, including Andretti, Tom Sneva, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Nigel Mansell, Gordon Johncock, Emerson Fittipaldi and Danny Sullivan.
The driver-race strategist relationship hasn’t changed much over the years, McGee notes, but the technology in the Verizon IndyCar Series cars is impressive.
“It’s very interesting to me,” he said. “The technology has increased so much in the last five or six years. There’s so much more that the engineers can look at. Even though the series is tightly regimented by the rules, there are still some areas you can work on. It’s tough to get an advantage nowadays, but I think the combination of having a driver who has a good attitude and a great crew helps.”
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk will be inducted in the Hall of Fame on Aug. 6.
