Chip Ganassi Racing made its name in sports car racing with prototypes, used that reputation to bring Ford back to Le Mans where it won on its debut with the GT in 2016, and once the program reaches its conclusion, a return to prototypes would be welcomed.

With the dual Ford CGR IMSA GT Le Mans and WEC GTE set to run through 2019, the team’s managing director says there are no active plans to run a factory Daytona Prototype international effort prior to the conclusion of the Ford GT project.

“We would like to be in the prototype category, but it makes it hard with the current GT program,” Mike Hull told RACER. “We’d need to see the Ford project all the way through before anything in the prototype category could be possible. It certainly isn’t going to be next year, and I don’t know about 2019 at this point. We’re at least 18 months away from figuring out the next steps.”

Rumors of a Ford DPi program to replace the Ford GT effort have been around for a while. Hull says there’s nothing moving on that front at the moment, or with other programs CGR has inquired about in the past.

“We spoke to Honda about it quite a long time ago, but Penske was already there and we didn’t know about it and Honda didn’t tell us, which was fair,” he added. “We’ve talked to Ford about it but at the moment, they’ve looked at DPi but don’t have serious interest in it, and they’re our partner program. GM is already with Wayne Taylor and Action Express, so while we’re partners in NASCAR, I don’t think there’s anything there for us in prototypes. We want to be in prototypes again, but the timing is open at this point.”

Hull was also quick to point out that CGR’s interest in DPi should not be confused for a desire to leave GT racing with Ford.

“We’re committed to a factory program with Ford and we wouldn’t jeopardize that,” he said. “We each benefit by being together, and we wouldn’t want to change that. We’ve tied our wagon to GTE and GTLM, so that’s the direction we’ll keep going.”