Chip Ganassi joined Pat Patrick as co-owner for Emerson Fittipaldi's Marlboro IndyCar team in 1989, inheriting the operation outright when Patrick retired at year's end. Fittipaldi took his Marlboro sponsorship to Team Penske, and Ganassi signed former Formula One driver Eddie Cheever as the team's first driver under the Chip Ganassi Racing name, with Target as primary sponsor.
The team rose to dominance in the mid-1990s. Jimmy Vasser won the 1996 CART championship, Alex Zanardi took back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998, and Juan Pablo Montoya won in his rookie season in 1999, making Ganassi the first team owner to win four consecutive CART championships. In 2000, Ganassi became the first CART organisation to return to the Indianapolis 500 after the open-wheel split between CART and the Indy Racing League in 1996. Montoya dominated the race, and also became the first driver since Rick Mears in 1991 to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Michigan 500 in the same year.
Ganassi transferred to the IndyCar Series full-time from 2003 with Scott Dixon, who won three races and the championship in his first full season. Dixon went on to become the defining driver of the Ganassi IndyCar era, winning the championship in 2008 — with wins at Homestead, Indianapolis, Texas, Nashville, Edmonton, and Kentucky — and again in 2013, 2015, and 2020, the latter a sixth title secured after winning the first three races of the COVID-delayed season.
Dario Franchitti joined the team in 2009 and won the Indianapolis 500 in 2010 and 2012. The 2012 Indy 500 saw Ganassi cars finish first and second, with Franchitti ahead of Dixon. Franchitti was medically forced into retirement following a crash at Houston in 2013. Alex Palou joined for 2021 and won the IndyCar championship in his first season with the team, becoming only the third Ganassi driver to take the IndyCar title and the first since Franchitti in 2011.
Significant drivers through the team's IndyCar history have included Dan Wheldon, Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball, Tony Kanaan, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson, and Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion who drove road and street courses in 2021 and 2022. By 2026, the team fielded Kyffin Simpson, Scott Dixon, and Alex Palou in the Nos. 8, 9, and 10 Dallara-Hondas.
In 2001, Ganassi purchased a majority stake in Felix Sabates' Team SABCO NASCAR operation, which had competed since 1989. The combined entity ran as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. In 2009, the NASCAR programme merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, though the Earnhardt name was dropped in 2014. Notable NASCAR drivers included Sterling Marlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, and Ross Chastain. In 2021, Ganassi sold the entire NASCAR operation to former Xfinity Series driver Justin Marks, who rebranded it as Trackhouse Racing Team.
CGR entered the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series alongside its IndyCar programme, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2006, 2007, and 2008, making Ganassi the first owner to win the race in three consecutive years since Al Holbert in 1986 and 1987. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas also delivered three Grand-Am Series championships. In 2011, Ganassi won the Rolex 24 with a one-two finish, a result that made Ganassi the first team owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, and 24 Hours of Daytona within a single twelve-month span.
In 2016, Ganassi partnered with Ford on the Ford GT programme in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, operating as Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. The team competed in the LMGTE Pro class with drivers including Dirk Muller, Joey Hand, Ryan Briscoe, and Richard Westbrook. Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK ran the WEC entry in parallel through a joint venture with Multimatic Motorsports Europe.
CGR entered the Global RallyCross Championship in 2015 with Steve Arpin and Brian Deegan driving Ford Fiestas, earning the team's first GRC win at Daytona in 2016, before shutting the programme after 2017. The team competed in Extreme E from the series' inaugural 2021 season through 2023, with Sara Price becoming the first confirmed Extreme E driver and the first female driver in CGR history. The team won their first Extreme E race in July 2022 with Price at the wheel.