Justin Marks announced announced Jan. 6 that NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver and Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Helio Castroneves will drive the PROJECT91 entry for Trackhouse Racing in an attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway.
Hiring a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner to drive his NASCAR Cup Series car may not be Marks’ only involvement with “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Marks expressed interest in soon taking Trackhouse Racing, a team he co-owns with Armando Christian Perez, better known by his music name Pitbull, to the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“The Indianapolis 500 is right up there,” Marks said.
Marks doesn’t make proclamations without substance. He’s boisterous but calculated in his approach to forging a path to make dreams become a reality. There aren’t many instances where Marks speaks out of turn.
Big dreams come to fruition, even with roadblocks.
Marks, a 43-year-old former race car driver, leased a charter and started Trackhouse Racing in 2021. Without a charter available for 2022, Trackhouse purchased Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation when it wasn’t for sale, including acquiring both its charters. Marks helped build a powerful NASCAR team, reaching the Championship 4 with Ross Chastain in 2022 and having a playoff-eligible driver the last three seasons.
Marks vowed to be different and never wanted to remain stagnant. He also created PROJECT91 in 2022 with the intent on expanding the organization’s global reach by fielding a Cup Series entry for renowned international racing drivers.
A year later, Trackhouse Entertainment Group announced it would take over RNF Racing’s entry in MotoGP, and the team started to compete in the top level of motorcycle road racing in 2024.
Fielding vehicles in several different disciplines of motorsports is proof a Trackhouse Racing entry in the Indianapolis 500 isn’t just chatter.
The annual Memorial Day weekend race is the reason Marks chose a motorsports path, citing sitting in the grandstands with his dad for the 1995 Indianapolis 500 sparking a passion he couldn’t shake.
“I was so moved and so captivated by the Indianapolis 500, and it was really that moment that I knew that the racetrack was going to be home for me, in some capacity, my entire life,” Marks said. “The Indianapolis 500 really cemented the passion for motorsports that I had and put me on a path to start thinking about it as a career.”
Marks, with a busy schedule, still breaks away and visits Indianapolis Motor Speedway each May for a practice day. He and Michael Shank, co-owner of Meyer Shank Racing, are friends. So are he and NTT INDYCAR SERIES iconic team owner Chip Ganassi. Marks likes to come to Indy to visit and chat with his friends, but most of all, he basks in the ambience of NTT INDYCAR SERIES machinery circling the 2.5-mile oval faster than 230 mph.
“It’s such an incredible experience just being there watching,” Marks said. “Certainly is a dream of mine to have Trackhouse represented in that race. There are continuing discussions. It's no small feat. It's something that that we've looked at as a company for a number of years. I think when the time is right, we'll take a real hard look at it.
“Obviously, we won't be competing in the race in 2025, but there are discussions ongoing about how to make something like that happen. It's very high on my personal list, and then I got to get sort of the business and commercial and partnerships and all that worked out, to figure out how to do it in a meaningful and competitive way.
“I don't think that Trackhouse will ever be complete without us competing in the world's greatest open-wheel race.”