Mike Parra, CEO of DHL Express Americas and Head of Global Sponsorships says that the company was excited to get the opportunity to partner with Chip Ganassi Racing as they share similar values.
It was announced on Tuesday that they have signed a multi-year partnership to sponsor defending a two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou with the Spaniard competing in the No.10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda from the 2024 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding which takes place from March 8-10.
Speaking during a media call on Tuesday following the announcement that DHL have moved from Andretti to Ganassi, Parra said:
I have to tell you, I love racing. I started following Chip when he was doing NASCAR, then a bit on the INDYCAR side.
I got to tell you, some of the things that really cemented it for our team, Greg Hewitt, our CEO in the U.S., Chet Paul who runs commercial for us and sponsorship in the U.S., and Joe Siegel, who is on the call, when you walk into CGR, you walk the hallways at CGR, the first thing you see is the intimate relationship that Chip has with everybody that works for him. You can just see the rich history of Chip Ganassi Racing on the walls. It loops around the whole building. They started a second row. That second row is almost complete. They’re making room for the third row (smiling).
He could stop and tell you about every one of those wins that started with the Andrettis, by the way, working with Chip in that. The rich history.
He takes you downstairs. When you walk in where they’re working on the cars, you walk in and meet the team, he’s just got a personal relationship with every single person. That just aligns with our values at DHL.
We are a results-driven company, but we say without compromising our respect-based behaviors. That’s Chip. That’s what I saw not only in Chip, but in Mike Long, the whole team there at Chip Ganassi Racing.
I would say that, and finally we’re in 220 countries globally, with 630,000 employees on a worldwide basis. Chip is in a global racing. His name is global. He’s global in nature. All of those things and his passion and dedication as well, not just to speed, but his passion and his dedication to the communities that they live in and serve in also was a big attraction for us.