Barry Wanser is on the cusp of doing something he was unable to last year: be present to celebrate a championship with his team.
The team manager for Chip Ganassi Racing and race strategist for Alex Palou, Wanser missed the last two rounds of the 2023 season after multiple surgeries and treatments were needed to remove cancer from his throat and tongue. While he remained involved, he was left watching from home as his driver and team hoisted the Astor Cup Trophy at Laguna Seca.
Wanser rebounded and returned to the timing stand for the season-opening round in St. Petersburg. Now, after a hard-fought campaign, just 206 laps stand in the way of him sharing in a moment that he was denied last year. Palou holds a 33-point lead in the overall standings over Team Penske’s Will Power (525-493) entering the final round at Nashville Superspeedway.
In a small media roundtable with Motorsport.com, NBC Sports and the Indy Star, team owner Chip Ganassi shared his thoughts on Wanser being in this position after everything he has gone through.
“It’s one thing to talk about his health, but obviously he had the ‘Big C’ and it needed to be fixed,” Ganassi said.
“Thank God it was fixed. That’s the most important thing. From a team perspective, his contributions can’t be… you know the people that manage that No. 10 car, I don’t know that their accomplishments or their amount of input is even measurable to what they mean to a championship.
“You just can’t take a guy like that and pluck him out of the system and replace him. There’s a lot that goes into that. And even during Barry’s convalescence, if you will, he was still on the phone. He was on the phone everyday. He was still involved with what was going on as much as he could. Probably, when you get right down to it, guys like Barry and (Blair) Julian, I don’t know this to be a fact but I would guarantee you this, I’d bet a lot of money that that’s part of the reason he stuck around.
“You don’t replace guys like that. It’s hard to get that working relationship you have with a guy. It’s hard to get that. It just doesn’t happen. It can happen for a day or a week or something, not over a season or a couple year period or over a championship.”
A humble perspective
For his part, Wanser remained humble when sharing his feelings on the journey during a media call earlier in the week.
“Obviously, people are diagnosed with cancer every day,” said Wanser. “It was my turn last year. Just happened to be me.
“I had a couple of surgeries that I was able to get done sooner than later, so that took me away from the last two races.
“Yeah, I wasn't there. But just saw the team, had the Barry heads, which was pretty awesome to see from home, even on some pretty good pain meds. I can tell you the Barry heads, there was a lot of them made, and they're still around. I still get pictures today from my teammates and friends.
“Your support system, it's been very humbling the amount of support I've had,” he continued.
“Not just from my teammates, but from the paddock and all of racing in general and the fans. It's been pretty special. Thanks to everybody that have been pulling for me. They've made a difference.”
“So I got through the recovery of that. Still somewhat recovering a little bit in some areas of my neck, but it just was great to be back with the team to start the year, and then to have another shot at a championship this year.
“Certainly it will mean a lot more to me personally if we're able to pull it off and I'm there.”
In the end, Wanser remained unselfish when talking about what the significance of what celebrating the championship would mean for him, only expressing his thoughts on his team.
“I don't focus too much on me,” he said. “Personally, I focus on myself to make sure I'm as healthy as possible and stuff, but I'm more focused on what the team achieves. Certainly the whole team, plus us uniquely with the 10 car team, that's what we're trying to do is win another championship.
“It's going to be as rewarding to everybody on the team. There's going to be some -- if we're fortunate enough to pull it off, there will be some first-time champions. If we're fortunate to pull it off, there will be some 16-time champions and everything in between.
“Either way, if we pull it off, it will be pretty special to all of us.”
