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Chip Ganassi Racing clarifies Dixon's radio problem
Scott Dixon didn’t spend all of Sunday’s 100-lap race without the ability to communicate with his team on pit lane. But the eventual second-place finisher did lose contact with his Chip Ganassi Rac…
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At the end of the 2006 season Mike Hull and I agreed I would continue as the team's radio tech for 2007. He shook my hand and said
"Let's do it again". The next week I met with Scott Harner to sign my contract. He told me he "hired a kid from Purdue" as an engineer and wanted me to train
him to handle their radios.
I basically told him to pound sand and walked out.
I worked that season providing internet service to some teams and vendors, I would hear stories about how the radios kept failing during races from my former teammates.
At one point Chip got so mad he slammed the radio down on the timing stand.
Dan Wheldon's radio crapped out during the last race of the season, they were trying to tell him to slow up so Scott Dixon could draft off him to save fuel.
The plan didn't work and Scott finished far enough back from first he lost the points he needed to win the 2007 Championship, all because Scott Harner wanted to save $45,000.
Bobby Rahal lost the Michigan 500 one year because his radio wasn't working. I told the crew chief the car radio was years old and needed to be replaced, he did not have the budget for a new radio, around $900. I remember telling a crew guy the difference between 1st and 2nd prize money would have bought a bunch of new radios.
