Misplaced Pages

#351648

117-624: He is currently a partner in Chip Ganassi Racing teams, which formerly fielded teams in the NASCAR Cup Series (as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), as well as fielding the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship , World Endurance Championship and IndyCar Series teams. Sabates previously owned SABCO Racing until the end of the 2000 season when Chip Ganassi and Sabates became partners. Felix Sabates

234-462: A front for Rolls-Royce Limited . Not even Bentley himself knew the identity of the purchaser until the deal was completed. Barnato received £42,000 for his shares in Bentley Motors. In 1934 he was appointed to the board of the new Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. In the same year Bentley confirmed that it would continue racing. Rolls-Royce took over the assets of Bentley Motors (1919) Ltd and formed

351-646: A "Special Blessing" in writing from Pope John Paul II. Sabates became a member of the philanthropic Dream Makers Society of the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County, Fla., in recognition of his 12-year commitment to and support of special fund raising events. In his honor, the Felix Sabates Athletic Center was dedicated in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in November 2000. The facility is the largest Boys and Girls Club in

468-582: A "standard" ready-to-drive complete saloon car. The first steel-bodied model produced was the Bentley Mark VI : these started to emerge from the newly reconfigured Crewe factory early in 1946. Some years later, initially only for export, the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was introduced, a standard steel Bentley but with a Rolls-Royce radiator grille for a small extra charge, and this convention continued. Chassis remained available to coachbuilders until

585-463: A Sports Saloon for the owner of James Young's, James Barclay. The early R Type Continental has essentially the same engine as the standard R Type, but with modified carburation, induction and exhaust manifolds along with higher gear ratios. After July 1954 the car was fitted with an engine, having now a larger bore of 94.62 mm (3.7 in) with a total displacement of 4,887 cc (4.9 L; 298.2 cu in). The compression ratio

702-593: A car chassis (with a dummy engine) at the London Motor Show . Ex– Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative four-valves-per-cylinder engine for the chassis. By December the engine was built and running. Delivery of the first cars was scheduled for June 1920, but development took longer than estimated so the date was extended to September 1921. The durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim, and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands . Bentley's first major event

819-471: A down year for the team, with Dixon winning twice at Phoenix and Watkins Glen, while Kanaan had only two podiums while Chilton and Kimball struggled. Beginning in the 2017 season, Ganassi changed engine suppliers back to full-works Honda in a bid for serious title contender, retaining their four drivers and thus earned full-factory support from Honda . Also, 2017 marked the end of Target sponsorship in Indycar, as

936-720: A full-factory entrant since 2004 Formula One season but under Jaguar Racing F1 Team banner after eleven-year absence. The cars would be campaigned by Chip Ganassi Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship , and by Multimatic Motorsports Europe (joint-venture) in the FIA World Endurance Championship under the Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK banner. With the Chip Ganassi teams racing their GT, Ford had podium wins in

1053-665: A furniture factory. One year later in 1964, after an encounter with the Ku Klux Klan , his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina , and he began working at National Car Rental as a parking lot attendant and washing cars at the Charlotte Airport . Later, Sabates began working at the City Chevrolet car dealership in Downtown Charlotte (later purchased by fellow NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick ), offering to work for free on

1170-466: A letter from Sabates blaming Charlotte's City Council for losing the game, which was projected to have a $ 100 million impact on the state. His letter reportedly stated: "Our Mayor opened a can of worms, who knows why? One Our city council is the one to blame for our losing the NBA All Star game, none of this would have happened if not for a very few minority forcing our supposed city leaders into creating

1287-451: A location for a shadow factory to ensure production of aero-engines. Crewe, with its excellent road and rail links, as well as being located in the northwest away from the aerial bombing starting in mainland Europe, was a logical choice. Crewe also had extensive open farming land. Construction of the factory started on a 60-acre area on the potato fields of Merrill's Farm in July 1938, with

SECTION 10

#1733085065352

1404-506: A logical purchaser because BMW already supplied engines and other components for Bentley and Rolls-Royce branded cars and because of BMW and Vickers joint efforts in building aircraft engines. BMW made a final offer of £340m, but was outbid by Volkswagen AG , which offered £430m. Volkswagen AG acquired the vehicle designs, model nameplates, production and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks, but not

1521-491: A military background. They kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive; Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans , from 1927 to 1930. Birkin developed the 4½-litre, lightweight Blower Bentley at Welwyn Garden City in 1929 and produced five racing specials, starting with Bentley Blower No.1 which was optimised for the Brooklands racing circuit. Birkin overruled Bentley and put

1638-598: A new chairman elected to change the retail giant's sporting sponsorships. For 2018, Ganassi would downsize to two cars, with Kimball and Chilton taking their sponsorship over to Carlin due to the team's cost-efficiency. Scott Dixon remains in the No. 9 with sponsorship from PNC Bank . In addition, Ganassi signed the 2017 Indycar Rookie of the Year Ed Jones to drive the No. 10 car in 2018, with sponsorship from NTT Data, replacing Tony Kanaan. Dixon would win his fifth IndyCar title on

1755-447: A one-two finish in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. Ganassi's two cars ran towards the front of the field for the majority of the race, and driver Scott Pruett , having started third, defeated Scott Dixon by a margin of victory of over two seconds in a one-lap sprint to the finish after a late caution period . The victory made Ganassi the first racing team owner to win

1872-421: A problem that never really existed, there will always be another election, they better pray a very few can get them re-elected. What is wrong with a person using a bathroom provided for the sex the [ sic ] were born with, if you want to change your gender so be it, we are a free county, but don't force 8 years old children to be exposed to having to share bathroom facilities with people that don't share

1989-406: A result of the slump in sales, production at Crewe was shut down during March and April 2009. Though vehicle sales increased by 11% to 5,117 in 2010, operating loss grew by 26% to € 245 million. In Autumn 2010, workers at Crewe staged a series of protests over proposal of compulsory work on Fridays and mandatory overtime during the week. Vehicle sales in 2011 rose 37% to 7,003 vehicles, with

2106-555: A result, expressed interest in fielding a GRC team. On March 18, 2015, Ganassi announced the creation of a team that began competing in the GRC in 2015 . The team is based in the NASCAR shop in Concord, North Carolina , and is led by former Ford World Rally Team engineer Carl Goodman. The team hired former JR Motorsports NASCAR driver Steve Arpin and 13-time X Games medalist Brian Deegan to run

2223-606: A subsidiary, Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. Rolls-Royce had acquired the Bentley showrooms in Cork Street, the service station at Kingsbury, the complex at Cricklewood and the services of Bentley himself. This last was disputed by Napier in court without success. Bentley had neglected to register their trademark so Rolls-Royce immediately did so. They also sold the Cricklewood factory in 1932. Production stopped for two years, before resuming at

2340-461: A team of Alexander Wurz , Brendon Hartley , Andy Priaulx , and future Formula One driver Lance Stroll , in the last Rolex 24 of the DP era. On 12 June 2015, at Le Mans, it was announced that Ford would return to the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 with a factory-supported, four-car effort operating as Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and thus marked Ford's return to international automobile road racing as

2457-443: A twist, Ganassi would hire 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan to drive the No. 10 Target car, while Briscoe and NTT Data signed on for a full season in the No. 8 car. The team once again struggled during the first half of the season, but hit its stride during the second half, with Dixon winning at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, while Kanaan won the season finale at Auto Club. For 2015, the team would sign Indy Lights champion Sage Karam to share

SECTION 20

#1733085065352

2574-418: A variety of development drivers, notably New Zealanders Marc Williams, and Jonny Reid . ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) * Season still in progress Initially, CGR fielded the 01 Lexus -rebadged Toyota - Riley car driven by Scott Pruett and Max Papis . Their second team car, the 02, was driven by Jimmy Morales and Luis Diaz. CGR won

2691-472: The 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  Litre called it "the silent sports car", a slogan Rolls-Royce continued to use for Bentley cars until the 1950s. All Bentleys produced from 1931 to 2004 used inherited or shared Rolls-Royce chassis, and adapted Rolls-Royce engines, and are described by critics as badge-engineered Rolls-Royces. In preparation for war, Rolls-Royce and the British Government searched for

2808-792: The ECHL placed the Charlotte Checkers expansion franchise in Charlotte for 1993. In 1996, the Checkers won the Jack Riley Cup championship after competing in the ECHL for just three years. Soon after, the team was sold at a then-record price for a minor-league professional franchise, to Tim Braswell, who sold the team in 2000 to George Shinn and Ray Woolridge, the Hornets owners. Sabates and Carl Scheer would buy back

2925-455: The Extreme E electric racing series for its inaugural season in 2021 . A month later, the team signed Sara Price to race one of two entries, making her the first confirmed Extreme E racer and the first female driver in team history. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series champion Kyle LeDuc joined CGR in July. In December, Sycamore Entertainment signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with CGR, where

3042-529: The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series . In 2009, Ganassi partnered with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt to merge their NASCAR operations into Ganassi's shop and run under the banner of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates . The NASCAR team dropped the Earnhardt name in 2014, and Ganassi revealed that Teresa was never truly involved with the team. Rob Kauffman , chairman of

3159-833: The NTT IndyCar Series , IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship . They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series , Global Rallycross Championship , Extreme E and the Rolex Sports Car Series . It was founded in 1990 by businessman and former racecar driver Chip Ganassi from the assets of Patrick Racing to compete in the CART IndyCar World Series. After winning four consecutive CART championships from 1996 to 1999 with drivers Jimmy Vasser , Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya , in 2000 Ganassi became

3276-967: The Race Team Alliance , purchased a stake in the team in 2015. Sabates retired from his ownership role after the 2020 season. In 2021, Ganassi accepted an unsolicited offer from former CGR Xfinity Series driver Justin Marks to sell the entire NASCAR operation to Marks' Trackhouse Racing Team , with the deal finalized after that season. The NASCAR program fielded full-time entries for notable drivers including Kyle Petty , Joe Nemechek , Sterling Marlin , Jimmy Spencer , Casey Mears , Juan Pablo Montoya , Jamie McMurray , Kyle Larson , Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain Together, they have won 16 Open Wheel titles (4 in CART, 12 in IndyCar), 5 Grand-Am sports car championships, and wins in

3393-458: The coachbuilder of choice. Coachwork for most of these cars was completed by H. J. Mulliner & Co. who mainly built them in fastback coupe form. Other coachwork came from Park Ward (London) who built six, later including a drophead coupe version. Franay (Paris) built five, Graber (Wichtrach, Switzerland) built three, one of them later altered by Köng (Basel, Switzerland), and Pininfarina made one. James Young (London) built in 1954

3510-547: The 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement , Barnato agreed to finance Bentley's business. Barnato had incorporated Baromans Ltd in 1922, which existed as his finance and investment vehicle. Via Baromans, Barnato initially invested in excess of £100,000, saving the business and its workforce. A financial reorganisation of the original Bentley company was carried out and all existing creditors paid off for £75,000. Existing shares were devalued from £1 each to just 1 shilling, or 5% of their original value. Barnato held 149,500 of

3627-520: The 1970s. Sabates was also appointed by Governor Jim Martin as a commissioner of the North Carolina State Banking Commission. Sabates did not support Republican candidate Donald Trump 's campaigns for president in 2016 and 2020. Sabates has three children and six grandchildren. His daughter Mimi is married to former NHRA driver Doug Herbert. On August 2, 2014, Sabates' 18-year-old grandson Feliciano "Chany Boy" Sabates IV

Felix Sabates - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-522: The 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with Ganassi IRL drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon along with NASCAR driver Casey Mears . In 2007, Ganassi won the race again, this time with Pruett, former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya , and Salvador Duran , making him the first owner to win it in back to back years since Al Holbert in 1986–87. In 2008 Chip Ganassi Racing won a third Daytona 24 in a row. Also in 2008, Chip Ganassi Racing won their 3rd Grand-Am Championship, with drivers Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas. It

3861-480: The 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. In addition, Sabates and Ganassi also fielded a Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series for 13 years, where the team won an unprecedented six Rolex 24 At Daytonas and seven championships. Their No. 01 team is the winningest team in series history with 40 victories. Past drivers include Luis Diaz , Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner . In 2016

3978-681: The Americas: Olivier Pla at in #66 2:05.244 2016 6 Hours of Fuji: Harry Tincknell in #67 at 1:38.575 2017 6 Hours of Silverstone: Andy Priaulx in #67 at 1:57.416 2017 6 Hours of Shanghai: Olivier Pla in #66 at 2:02.154 Ganassi expressed plans to start a team in the AMA Supercross Championship , but in late 2014, Ganassi attended the Global RallyCross Championship 's season-ending race in Las Vegas, and as

4095-538: The Bentley Continental was introduced at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show : The Continental Supersports . This new Bentley is a supercar combining extreme power with environmentally friendly FlexFuel technology, capable of using petrol (gasoline) and biofuel (E85 ethanol). Bentley sales continued to increase, and in 2005 8,627 were sold worldwide, 3,654 in the United States. In 2007, the 10,000 cars-per-year threshold

4212-513: The Bentley badge. Under Vickers, Bentley set about regaining its high-performance heritage, typified by the 1980 Mulsanne . Bentley's restored sporting image created a renewed interest in the name and Bentley sales as a proportion of output began to rise. By 1986 the Bentley:Rolls-Royce ratio had reached 40:60; by 1991 it achieved parity. In October 1997, Vickers announced that it had decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. BMW AG seemed to be

4329-670: The Best Award given to only the top 10 percent of dealers nationwide. He also operates the largest volume Infiniti dealership in North Carolina as well as Hyundai, Ford, Lincoln Mazda, Sprinter and Smart Car auto dealerships. A Sabates owned Bentley dealership closed in 2015. In 1987, Sabates became a NASCAR team owner with the purchase of a Hendrick Motorsports research and development team from Charlotte businessman Rick Hendrick , who also owns Chevrolet dealerships. The team would be known as SABCO Racing . Sabates' first driver in 1989

4446-668: The Castro administration. Sabates initially settled in Boston , Massachusetts with his aunt and uncle, before moving to Columbia, Missouri . In between, Sabates lived in motels and worked several odd jobs, including washing pots and pans at a hospital. Eventually, the family would reconvene in Lexington, North Carolina (where his mother originally settled), in a resettlement site for Cuban refugees established by an American-based Catholic charity. In Lexington, Sabates began working 12-hour shifts in

4563-670: The Continental manufactured in Zwickau and for the Bentayga manufactured at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant . The joining and eventual separation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce followed a series of mergers and acquisitions, beginning with the 1931 purchase by Rolls-Royce of Bentley, then in receivership. In 1971, Rolls-Royce itself was forced into receivership and the UK government nationalised

4680-1069: The FIA GT manufacturer's category both years that it competed in. FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers 2016 3rd Place: Ford 2017 2nd Place: Ford FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro Teams 2016 2nd Place: Car #67 2016 4th Place: Car #66 2017 2nd Place: Car #67 2017 7th Place: Car #66 World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers 2016: S. Mücke & O. Pla ranked 4th 2016: A. Priaulx, H. Tincknell ranked 5th 2016: B. Johnson ranked 9th 2016: M. Franchitti 13th 2017: A. Priaulx, H. Tincknell ranked 3rd 2017: S. Mücke & O. Pla ranked 8th 2017: L. Derani ranked 10th 2017: B. Johnson ranked 12th Pole Positions 2016 6 Hours of Fuji: #66 Car (Mücke, Pla) 2016 6 Hours of Shanghai: #67 Car (Priaulx, Tincknell) 2017 6 Hours of Silverstone: #67 Car (Priaulx, Tincknell, Derani) 2018 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: #67 Car (Priaulx, Tincknell, Kanaan) Fastest Laps 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours: Scott Dixon in #69 at 3:51.514 2016 6 Hours of Circuit of

4797-533: The Gurney Nutting coupé racing along a road parallel to the Blue Train, which scenario never occurred as the road and railway did not follow the same route. The original model was the three-litre, but as customers put heavier bodies on the chassis, a larger 4½-litre model followed. Perhaps the most iconic model of the period is the 4½-litre "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger projecting forward from

Felix Sabates - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-589: The Indianapolis 500 (Five times), Daytona 500 , Brickyard 400 , 24 Hours of Daytona , 12 Hours of Sebring , Petit Le Mans and a 24 Hours of Le Mans class win, and over 200 wins across all categories. In 1989 , Chip Ganassi , who had driven in the IndyCar World Series but had his career cut short due to a career-ending crash at Michigan in 1984, joined Pat Patrick as co-owner for Emerson Fittipaldi 's Marlboro IndyCar team. Patrick had announced he

5031-463: The Indy Racing League (IRL) with Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmy Vasser in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 won by rookie Montoya. In 2001 , they returned to Indy with Vasser, Bruno Junqueira , Nicolas Minassian , and NASCAR 's Tony Stewart , who would also compete in that evening's Coca-Cola 600 . But in neither year did they run the entire IndyCar Series season. For 2002 , Ganassi made

5148-537: The Marlboro sponsorship to Team Penske , an arrangement that was also pre-planned. (Penske had supplied Patrick with a fleet of Penske chassis for 1989 as part of the deal). Ganassi officially took over the remaining assets of the team (including the 1989 Penske chassis) and renamed it Chip Ganassi Racing. He signed former Formula One driver Eddie Cheever and raced full-time in the IndyCar World series with Target as

5265-513: The No. 00 and 38 M-Sport Ford Fiestas , respectively. Arpin contested the full season, while Deegan competed in seven of the season's twelve races. In 2016 Arpin and Deegan were back full-time. Arpin earned the team's first win at Daytona. In 2017, Ganassi announced he would shut down the Global RallyCross program to focus on other series. The team's assets were acquired by Loenbro Motorsports. Race cancelled. In May 2020, CGR joined

5382-466: The No. 8 with Sebastián Saavedra . Dixon would claim his fourth title in a tiebreaker with Juan Pablo Montoya on the strength of three wins at Long Beach, Texas, and Sonoma. Kanaan would not win that year but had two runner-up finishes at Texas and Fontana. Both Karam and Saavedra would struggle in the No. 8, save for a lone podium by Karam at Iowa. For 2016, Ganassi would replace Karam and Saavedra with former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton . 2016 would be

5499-856: The North Carolina Banking Commission. In fact, he has been appointed to commissions by three different North Carolina governors, Jim Martin (R), Mike Easley (D) and most recently by Governor Pat McCrory (R) to vice chairman of the Oversight committee of the Airport Authority of North Carolina which oversees the Charlotte airport, the sixth busiest in the world. Sabates is also well known for his many philanthropic contributions and has received several honors and awards for his work. Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina has named its dining hall after him, Elon College and UNC Charlotte bestowed upon him Honorary Doctorate degrees, and he received

5616-751: The Rolls-Royce works in Derby. Unhappy with his role at Rolls-Royce, when his contract expired at the end of April 1935 W. O. Bentley left to join Lagonda . When the new Bentley 3½ litre appeared in 1933, it was a sporting variant of the Rolls-Royce 20/25 , which disappointed some traditional customers yet was well received by many others. W. O. Bentley was reported as saying, "Taking all things into consideration, I would rather own this Bentley than any other car produced under that name". Rolls-Royce's advertisements for

5733-751: The UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . On 3 November 2020, Bentley announced that all new cars sold will be electric by 2030. This announcement also follows after the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in February 2020 that he approved legislation that will ban and phase out non-electric vehicles (including Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid vehicles) from the UK by 2030 with hybrids being banned by 2035. Sources Volkswagen AG Annual Reports and press releases Bentley recorded

5850-492: The Year honors. The 2020 season saw the return of its No. 8 entry, driven by former Alfa Romeo Racing driver Marcus Ericsson . Scott Dixon started the delayed 2020 season very strong, winning the first three races at Texas, Indianapolis, and Road America. Dixon also went on to win at Gateway en route to his 6th Indycar championship. In the No. 10, Rosenqvist would score his first win at Road America. For 2021, Felix Rosenqvist left

5967-477: The age of 15, Felix was put on a flight to Miami by his parents. He was the first member of the family to enter the United States of America . Five of his six brothers and sisters would later arrive in the U.S. under Operation Peter Pan , sent to Albuquerque , New Mexico and placed in foster care . Sabates' mother and youngest brother Art fled in 1963, while his father arrived in 1966 after being restricted by

SECTION 50

#1733085065352

6084-461: The age of 25, Sabates accepted a position as a salesman for Top Sales Company, Inc. (TSC) which distributed retail products. Sabates would purchase the company in 1974. Early products distributed by TSC included Atari game consoles and Teddy Ruxpin teddy bears. At its peak, TSC became the largest, most successful manufacturer's representative company in the United States with over $ 12 billion in sales. In 2000, Sabates sold TSC to his employees at what

6201-581: The board of directors for Carolinas Health Care Systems for the past 27 years. He also serves on the board of directors for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte , the Applica Corporation , Simpson Products , the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and he also was the co-chair of a North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force on Latino Health. Additionally Sabates was appointed to two terms on

6318-528: The bottom of the grille. Uncharacteristically fragile for a Bentley it was not the racing workhorse the 6½-litre was, though in 1930 Birkin remarkably finished second in the French Grand Prix at Pau in a stripped-down racing version of the Blower Bentley, behind Philippe Etancelin in a Bugatti Type 35 . The 4½-litre model later became famous in popular media as the vehicle of choice of James Bond in

6435-432: The brand new Ford GT , and thus the Daytona Prototype programme officially disbanded. Long time Ganassi driver Pruett would no longer have a place on the team, as Hand would partner with Dirk Müller (another ex-BMW works driver), while Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook were hired to drive the second GT. For Daytona, the team would bring out the Riley DPs one last time, the IndyCar/NASCAR "all-star car" being joined by

6552-418: The cars. BMW paid Rolls-Royce plc £40m to license the Rolls-Royce name and logo. After negotiations, BMW and Volkswagen AG agreed that, from 1998 to 2002, BMW would continue to supply engines and components and would allow Volkswagen temporary use of the Rolls-Royce name and logo. All BMW engine supply ended in 2003 with the end of Silver Seraph production. From 1 January 2003 forward, Volkswagen AG would be

6669-436: The company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London, and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924 , 1927 , 1928 , 1929 and 1930 . Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and consolidated under VW's premium brand arm Audi since 2022. Prominent models extend from the historic sports-racing Bentley 4½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six ;

6786-516: The company—splitting it into an aerospace company (Rolls-Royce Plc) and an automotive company (Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, including Bentley). Rolls-Royce Motors was subsequently sold to engineering conglomerate Vickers, and in 1998 Vickers sold Rolls-Royce to Volkswagen AG, including Bentley with its name and logos (but not the name "Rolls Royce"). Before World War I , Walter Owen Bentley and his brother, Horace Millner Bentley, sold French DFP cars in Cricklewood, North London, but W.O, as Walter

6903-429: The condition that if he outsells the other salesman within a month, that he would be compensated and offered a permanent sales position. Sabates was successful with record car sales. When a local newspaper article had recounted this story about the top salesman, it caught the eye of a local businessman who proceeded to offer him a different sales position with potential growth as a manufacturer's representative. In 1969 at

7020-408: The end of 2006 after around 1,000 cars, with all car production reverting to the Crewe plant. Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine in 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee . Production of the two-door convertible Bentley Azure finished in 2003. It was replaced by a large luxury coupé powered by a W12 engine built in Crewe and named Bentley Continental GT . It

7137-458: The end of production of the Bentley S3 , which was replaced for October 1965 by the chassis-less monocoque construction T series . The Continental fastback coupé was aimed at the UK market, most cars, 164 plus a prototype , being right-hand drive. The chassis was produced at the Crewe factory and shared many components with the standard R type. Other than the R-Type standard steel saloon, R-Type Continentals were delivered as rolling chassis to

SECTION 60

#1733085065352

7254-405: The event. CGR would field a Riley-Ford Daytona Prototype in the inaugural season of the merged United SportsCar Championship for Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, winning three races. In 2015, Rojas was replaced by ex-BMW works driver Joey Hand , and the team fielded an "all-star car" at Daytona consisting of the teams IndyCar and NASCAR drivers. For 2016, the team would move to the GTLM class with

7371-472: The family name. Sabates attended military school as a teenager, first in Havana , and later in Camagüey. According to Sabates, he was a bunkmate with one of the sons of Fidel Castro . Following the Cuban Revolution , the newly established communist government headed by Fidel Castro proceeded to nationalize many businesses and strip citizens of individual wealth; this included the assets of Sabates' family. After joining anti-Castro forces, in June 1960, at

7488-594: The first Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine rolling off the production line five months later. 25,000 Merlin engines were produced and at its peak, in 1943 during World War II , the factory employed 10,000 people. With the war in Europe over and the general move towards the then new jet engines , Rolls-Royce concentrated its aero-engine operations at Derby and moved motor car operations to Crewe. Until some time after World War II , most high-end motorcar manufacturers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce did not supply complete cars. They sold rolling chassis , near-complete from

7605-410: The first CART organization to return to the Indianapolis 500 after the open-wheel "split" between CART and the Indy Racing League in 1996. A dominant victory with Montoya would foresee the team's permanent switch to the IRL (now IndyCar Series ), where further championships would be won with Scott Dixon , Dario Franchitti and Álex Palou , including another four straight from 2008 to 2011. In 2024,

7722-426: The first car owner to win four consecutive CART championships. In 2000 , Ganassi became the first CART team to break ranks and return to race in the Indianapolis 500 , part of the rival Indy Racing League . The team saw instant success as Montoya dominated the race . Montoya also became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and the Michigan 500 in the same year since Rick Mears in 1991 . However, he

7839-403: The first professional indoor soccer league in the 1980s, he was one of the first investors in the World Football League . Also in the 1990s, he established The Charlotte Professional Sports Team, Inc, along with Hornets executive Carl Scheer, and his NASCAR driver, Kyle Petty , and his father Richard Petty . The company returned professional hockey to Charlotte for the first time since 1977, when

7956-400: The first time in 2007, with drivers Chris Festa and Pablo Pérez . Perez was severely injured in a crash in the opening race of the Indy Lights season and was not replaced. Festa finished 10th in points without winning a race in a season dominated by Alex Lloyd who was signed by Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the season. The team partnered with Integra Motorsports in 2007 and 2008 fielding

8073-488: The first woman in the organization's history to drive a race-winning car. CGR left Extreme E after the 2023 season. * Season still in progress * Season still in progress (Races in bold indicate best qualifiers; races in italics indicate fastest super sector; H indicate Heat race win) * Season still in progress Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs . Headquartered in Crewe , England,

8190-404: The four of the most important races in North American auto racing, the Daytona 500 , Indianapolis 500 , Brickyard 400 , and 24 Hours of Daytona , within the same 12-month span. It was Pruett's fourth win in the event; for co-driver Memo Rojas , his second victory, while co-drivers Joey Hand and Graham Rahal won for the first time, the latter thirty years after his father, Bobby Rahal , won

8307-431: The instrument panel forward. Each chassis was delivered to the coachbuilder of the buyer's choice. The biggest specialist car dealerships had coachbuilders build standard designs for them which were held in stock awaiting potential buyers. To meet post-war demand, particularly UK Government pressure to export and earn overseas currency, Rolls-Royce developed an all-steel body using pressings made by Pressed Steel to create

8424-464: The jump to the IndyCar Series full-time with Jeff Ward driving one car, with the addition of Ganassi's two CART Championship drivers Kenny Bräck and Bruno Junqueira at Indianapolis . None of those three would drive for Ganassi in 2003 ; the replacements were Scott Dixon  – a midseason addition to Ganassi's Champ Car team in 2002  – and Tomas Scheckter . Dixon won three races and

8541-504: The largest yacht management, charter, brokerage and new construction yachts companies in the world, with offices in Monaco, the Bahamas, Saint Martin and the U.S. He is also the president and CEO of FSS Holdings, Inc., a North Carolina-based holding company with holdings in several U.S. and international companies. Sabates owns and operates a Mercedes Benz dealership that is a four-time recipient of

8658-679: The model on the market before it was fully developed. As a result, it was unreliable. During the March 1930 Blue Train Races , Barnato raised the stakes on Rover and its Rover Light Six , having raced and beaten Le Train Bleu for the first time, to better that record with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six on a bet of £100. He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais , then by ferry to Dover , and finally London, travelling on public highways, and won. Barnato drove his H.J. Mulliner –bodied formal saloon in

8775-485: The more recent Bentley R Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R , and Bentley Arnage ; to its current model line, including the Flying Spur , Continental GT and Bentayga which are marketed worldwide, with China as its largest market as of November 2012. Today most Bentley models are assembled at the company's Crewe factory , with a small number assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory , Germany, and with bodies for

8892-408: The new Continental GT accounting for over one-third of total sales. The current workforce is about 4,000 people. The business earned a profit in 2011 after two years of losses as a result of the following sales results: On 23 March 2020, Bentley announced to halt production due to COVID-19 pandemic . In June 2020, Bentley announced that it will cut around 1,000 (one quarter of 4,200) job places in

9009-622: The new shares giving him control of the company and he became chairman. Barnato injected further cash into the business: £35,000 secured by debenture in July 1927; £40,000 in 1928; £25,000 in 1929. With renewed financial input, W. O. Bentley was able to design another generation of cars. The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts that included Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin , steeple chaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston , automotive journalist S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis , and Dudley Benjafield . The Bentley Boys favoured Bentley cars. Many were independently wealthy and many had

9126-444: The non-championship race at Surfers' Paradise at the end of 2008. The Target Chip Ganassi car driven by Franchitti won the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday May 30, 2010. For 2011, Ganassi expanded, to add an additional 2-car team for Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball housed in the race shop of NHRA drag racer Kenny Bernstein . Ganassi announced that in 2012, all 4 cars would be powered by Honda engines after

9243-436: The offseason. The team also changed to Honda engines (due to series engine supplier standardization from 2006 to 2011 seasons), along with all other IndyCar teams, and Dallara chassis for 2006. The 2007 IndyCar Series season showed promise for Ganassi, as Dixon took 4 wins at Watkins Glen , Nashville , Mid Ohio , and Sonoma and Wheldon took 2 additional wins at Homestead and Kansas . The 2008 IndyCar season

9360-533: The organs they were Bourne [ sic ] with, this is plain wrong, this could cause irreparable damages to a children's [ sic ] that don't understand why they have to see what God did not mean for them to witness, we have some very confused business as well as political humans that frankly have made this a political issue rather then [ sic ] moral issues, SHAME ON THEM." In addition to his successes in sports, Sabates also focuses much attention on civic activities. Sabates has served on

9477-652: The original novels , but this has been seen only briefly in the films . John Steed in the television series The Avengers also drove a Bentley. The new eight-litre was such a success that when Barnato's money seemed to run out in 1931 and Napier was planning to buy Bentley's business, Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley Motors to prevent it from competing with their most expensive model, the Phantom ;II. Bentley withdrew from motor racing just after winning at Le Mans in 1930, claiming that they had learned enough about speed and reliability. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and

9594-533: The primary sponsor. In 1992 , Ganassi expanded to a two-car effort for the Indy 500 , adding Arie Luyendyk for the Indy-only entry. Later Ganassi debuted rookie Robby Gordon in selected events. For 1993 , Luyendyk replaced Cheever full-time. Luyendyk won the pole position for the Indy 500 and finished second to Fittipaldi, Ganassi's former driver in his partnership with Patrick . For 1994 , Michael Andretti joined

9711-473: The race against the Blue Train. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a Speed Six with streamlined fastback "sportsman coupé" by Gurney Nutting . Both cars became known as the " Blue Train Bentleys "; the latter is regularly mistaken for, or erroneously referred to as being, the car that raced the Blue Train, while in fact Barnato named it in memory of his race. A painting by Terence Cuneo depicts

9828-465: The resulting Great Depression throttled the demand for Bentley's expensive motor cars. In July 1931 two mortgage payments were due which neither the company nor Barnato, the guarantor, were able to meet. On 10 July 1931 a receiver was appointed. Napier offered to buy Bentley with the purchase to be final in November 1931. Instead, British Central Equitable Trust made a winning sealed bid of £125,000. British Central Equitable Trust later proved to be

9945-587: The rights to the use of the Rolls-Royce name or logo, which are owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. In 1998, BMW started supplying components for the new range of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars—notably V8 engines for the Bentley Arnage and V12 engines for the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph , however, the supply contract allowed BMW to terminate its supply deal with Rolls-Royce with 12 months' notice, which would not be enough time for Volkswagen to re-engineer

10062-740: The season. The team fielded both cars in the Winston Cup circuit the following year and Petty again finished top-five in total points. SABCO Racing changed to Team SABCO at the beginning of the 1996 season. Sabates expanded his operation to two teams. Drivers for SABCO included Sterling Marlin , Bobby Hillin Jr. , Tommy Kendall , Kenny Irwin Jr. , Kenny Wallace , Bobby Hamilton , Robby Gordon , Greg Sacks , Wally Dallenbach Jr. , Joe Nemechek , Jeff Green , and Ted Musgrave . In 2001 Sabates partnered with Chip Ganassi to become Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Ganassi would purchase an 80 percent stake in

10179-697: The series championship while Scheckter struggled and was released from his contract. Tony Renna was due to replace him, but was killed in a testing crash at Indianapolis. Englishman Darren Manning wound up in the seat for 2004 . The team's performance suffered the next two seasons and when Manning was fired, a bevy of drivers ran in Ganassi's cars, among them former Formula One test drivers Ryan Briscoe and Giorgio Pantano , and Jaques Lazier . For 2006 , Ganassi scaled back to two cars, with Dixon returning along with 2005 Indianapolis 500 Champion Dan Wheldon , whom Ganassi signed away from Andretti Green Racing in

10296-435: The series decided to have multiple engine manufacturers (Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus) for the first time since 2005. The Ganassi cars driven by Franchitti and Dixon came in first and second in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 27, 2012. It was Franchitti's third Indianapolis 500 win and his second win with Ganassi. Rahal left Ganassi following the season for his father's team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing . In 2013,

10413-654: The sole provider of cars with the "Bentley" marque. BMW established a new legal entity, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, and built a new administrative headquarters and production facility for Rolls-Royce branded vehicles in Goodwood , West Sussex, England. After acquiring the business, Volkswagen spent £ 500 million (about US$ 845 million) to modernise the Crewe factory and increase production capacity. As of early 2010, there are about 3,500 working at Crewe, compared with about 1,500 in 1998 before being taken over by Volkswagen. It

10530-613: The sports car team began racing the new Ford GT in both IMSA and in the World Endurance Championship and would ultimately go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year - exactly 50 years after Ford beat Ferrari for the first time in 1966. In 1988, Sabates became one of the founding owners of the original Charlotte Hornets basketball team. Sabates played an intricate part negotiating with the NBA to grant franchise rights to Charlotte. Sabates sold his interests in 1991. After starting

10647-668: The state. He is also a large contributor to the North Carolina Health Care System Foundation, the Allegro Foundation to benefit children with special needs, as well as the Levine Children's Hospital that bears a special plaque in his honor is in the main lobby. Sabates is a member of the Republican Party . He supports local Republicans, and has supported most Republican presidential nominees since

10764-411: The strength of wins at Detroit, Texas, and Toronto. Jones would only have two podiums and was released at season's end in favor of Formula E driver Felix Rosenqvist . For the 2019 season, Dixon would again find victory at Detroit as well as Mid-Ohio, but an inconsistent season would leave him a distant fourth in points. Rosenqvist would have a consistent season, fending off Colton Herta for Rookie of

10881-452: The team entered the 2021 season as Segi TV Chip Ganassi Racing . In January 2021, GMC announced a multiyear sponsorship deal with CGR which sees the team rebranded as GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing and the team's Spark ODYSSEY 21 body styled as the Hummer EV for the 2022 season onwards. CGR's Extreme E team picked up their first series victory on July 7, 2022, with Price becoming

10998-596: The team fielded the Nos. 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11 Dallara-Hondas for Kyffin Simpson , Linus Lundqvist , Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong full-time. In 2001, Ganassi bought a majority stake in Felix Sabates ' Team SABCO NASCAR team, which had operated since 1989 , marking his entry into that championship as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and inheriting that organizations history, while also partnering to compete in

11115-597: The team in 2002. In November 2005, the Checkers hit an all-time attendance record of 10,894. Sabates is also the only person that had ownership in the Hornets in the 1980s/1990s to now also have an ownership stake with Michael Jordan in the Charlotte Hornets franchise in the 2010s. In July 2016, the NBA announced that it was removing the 2017 All-Star game from Charlotte due to North Carolina's controversial Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act , also known as House Bill 2 or HB2. The Charlotte Observer obtained

11232-521: The team to join Arrow McLaren SP with Alex Palou taking his seat. The team also expanded to 4 cars for the first time since 2017 with 7 time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson driving the road and street courses in the No. 48 car. For the ovals, they have former driver Tony Kanaan . The team scored the most wins by any team in the IndyCar series. Dixon would take only one win on the season and

11349-573: The team was dominant for the second half of the year, with Kimball's first win at Mid-Ohio, and Dixon adding four wins to overtake Hélio Castroneves for his third IndyCar title. The team also ran a fourth car, the No. 8, at Indianapolis for Briscoe, sponsored by NTT DATA . Despite the title, Ganassi was dealt a major blow when Franchitti was medically forced into retirement following a crash at Race 2 in Houston. Alex Tagliani replaced Franchitti at Auto Club. In 2014, Ganassi switched to Chevrolet engines. In

11466-625: The team's drivers include Kurt Busch in the No. 1 car & Ross Chastain in the No. 42. In his nearly 30 seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Sabates’ teams have 17 wins, 131 top-five and 354 top-10 finishes as well as 40 poles in nearly 1800 starts. His team made the Chase for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series four times (2009, 2015 & 2016 (2)), finished in the top five in points in three different seasons and won

11583-562: The team, immediately after returning from his failed transition to Formula One in 1993 . He scored Ganassi's first IndyCar victory at Surfers Paradise . Target continued to sponsor Ganassi's operation through the decade, and by the mid part of the decade, the team had risen to the top of the series. Perhaps the most impressive was Juan Pablo Montoya winning the championship in his rookie season in 1999 . They won four consecutive series championships, with Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi ( 1997 – 1998 ), and Montoya in 1999 , becoming

11700-487: The team, with Sabates retaining the remaining 20 percent. Later on, he became responsible for hiring the first Latino driver in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series in 2006, former Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya . Prior to the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, due to financial woes, the team merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The team would revert to the Ganassi Racing name in 2014. As of 2021,

11817-508: Was Pruett's 8th Road Racing Championship. Also participating was Memo Rojas, the first Mexican to win a major Road Racing title in North America. For the 2010 Grand-Am season the team switched from Lexus - Riley to BMW - Riley . Rojas and Pruett won 9 out of 12 races and eventually won the Grand-Am championship. Ganassi's Grand-Am Series team started 2011 in the best possible fashion, earning

11934-483: Was a third-generation racer Kyle Petty (Sabates was a huge fan of his father, Richard Petty ). In 1992, Sabates' team branched out into the Busch Series Following the death of Alan Kulwicki, Sabates gained the assets of his racing team, and later sold it to Geoff Bodine which became Goeff Bodine racing. Petty found his groove in the Winston Cup circuit, finishing in the top-five in the final point standings for

12051-477: Was born in Camagüey, Cuba. Sabates is the oldest of seven children — three boys (Feliciano "Felix" Jr., Jose, Arturo "Art") and four girls (Silvia, Yoyi, Manty, Rosita) — of Dr. Feliciano Sabates and Maria Tavio. Sabates' grandfather grew sugar until a fire destroyed the business in the 1930s. Sabates' family then founded a jewelry store in 1936. The family would later found several successful business many of which bore

12168-434: Was broken for the first time with sales of 10,014. For 2007, a record profit of € 155 million was also announced. Bentley reported a sale of about 7,600 units in 2008. However, its global sales plunged 50 percent to 4,616 vehicles in 2009 (with the U.S. deliveries dropped 49% to 1,433 vehicles) and it suffered an operating loss of € 194 million, compared with an operating profit of € 10 million in 2008. As

12285-607: Was confirmed in April 2005 a four-seat convertible Azure derived from the Arnage Drophead Coupé prototype would begin at Crewe in 2006. By the autumn of 2005, a convertible version of the successful Continental GT, the Continental GTC , was also presented in the autumn of 2005. These two models were launched in late 2006. A limited run of a Zagato modified GT was also announced in March 2008, dubbed " GTZ ". A new version of

12402-466: Was considered a well below market rate to "reward the people that helped him build the business." In 1988, Sabates purchased a Hatteras Yacht dealership in Stuart, Fla. and within two years Sabates had turned it into the largest Hatteras dealership in the world. Sabates, along with his partner John Dane, followed that up with the purchase of superyacht builder Trinity Yachts in 2000. He also owns IYC, one of

12519-494: Was even stronger for the team with eventual champion Dixon taking wins at Homestead , Indianapolis , Texas , Nashville, Edmonton , and Kentucky , and teammate Wheldon finishing 4th overall after winning at Kansas again and at Iowa . Shortly before the conclusion of the season it was announced that Wheldon would not return as Dixon's teammate in 2009 , a role taken by 2007 IndyCar Champion and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti of Scotland . Franchitti teamed with Dixon for

12636-575: Was fatally shot at a party in Palm Beach Gardens , Florida . 18. Prominent Republicans in Carolina Torn as Trump Nomination Becomes More Likely, Retrieved from https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/election/presidential-election/article75128437.html Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC ( CGR ), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams , is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in

12753-467: Was going to retire at the end of the year, and the team would go completely to Ganassi. The team won the Indy 500 and the IndyCar Championship . By season's end, Patrick had second thoughts. Instead of retracting the sale of the team to Ganassi, he went ahead with the deal as planned and instead restarted his team by taking over the upstart Alfa Romeo IndyCar effort for 1990 . Fittipaldi took

12870-789: Was known, always wanted to design and build his own cars. At the DFP factory, in 1913, he noticed an aluminium paperweight and thought that aluminium might be a suitable replacement for cast iron to fabricate lighter pistons. The first Bentley aluminium pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during the First World War. The same day that the Paris Peace Conference to end World War I started, Walter Owen ("W.O.") Bentley founded Bentley Motors Limited, on 18 January 1919 and registered Bentley Motors Ltd. in August 1919. In October he exhibited

12987-517: Was not able his title. His teammates Palou and Ericsson had breakout years. Ericsson took wins at Detroit and the inaugural round at Nashville while Palou would take wins at Barber, Road America, and Portland to win his first IndyCar championship. Palou would become the third Ganassi driver to win the IndyCar Series championship since the team joined the IndyCar Series and the first one other than Dixon since 2011. On December 20, 2006, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that it would field an Indy Lights team for

13104-492: Was raised to 7.25:1. The problems of Bentley's owner with Rolls-Royce aero engine development, the RB211 , brought about the financial collapse of its business in 1970. The motorcar division was made a separate business, Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, which remained independent until bought by Vickers plc in August 1980. By the 1970s and early 1980s Bentley sales had fallen badly; at one point less than 5% of combined production carried

13221-403: Was reported that Volkswagen invested a total of nearly US$ 2 billion in Bentley and its revival. As a result of upgrading facilities at Crewe the bodywork now arrives fully painted at the Crewe facility for final assembly, with the parts coming from Germany—similarly Rolls-Royce body shells are painted and shipped to the UK for assembly only. Demand had been so great that the factory at Crewe

13338-410: Was the 1922 Indianapolis 500 , a race dominated by specialized cars with Duesenberg racing chassis. They entered a modified road car driven by works driver Douglas Hawkes , accompanied by riding mechanic H. S. "Bertie" Browning. Hawkes completed the full 500 miles (800 km) and finished 13th with an average speed of 74.95 miles per hour (120.62 km/h) after starting in 19th position. The team

13455-467: Was then rushed back to England to compete in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy . In an ironic reference to his heavyweight boxer 's stature, Captain Woolf Barnato was nicknamed "Babe". In 1925, he acquired his first Bentley, a 3-litre. With this car, he won numerous Brooklands races. Just a year later, he acquired the Bentley business itself. The Bentley enterprise was always underfunded, but inspired by

13572-505: Was unable to duplicate his championship success of 1999. Vasser's performance steadily dwindled, as his lone victory at Houston was his first in nearly two years. The team ran from 1992 to 2002 before moving into the Indy Racing League full-time. They had run one IRL entry for former motocross racer Jeff Ward in 2002 , in which Ward won one race at Texas in one of the closest finishes in IRL history. Chip Ganassi Racing initially entered

13689-593: Was unable to meet orders despite an installed capacity of approximately 9,500 vehicles per year; there was a waiting list of over a year for new cars to be delivered. Consequently, part of the production of the new Flying Spur , a four-door version of the Continental GT, was assigned to the Transparent Factory (Germany), where the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury car was also assembled. This arrangement ceased at

#351648