If something big happened in the world of NASCAR or IndyCar, there was a good chance Jenna Fryer was the one reporting it. After starting her career in the 1990s, she became one of the Associated Press’ most trusted motorsports reporters. Then, after more than three decades with the AP, she was told her job was changing. She said no, and is now joining one of the biggest teams in American motorsports.

Chip Ganassi Racing, owned by Chip Ganassi, has launched a new editorial division called CGR Media, and they have hired Fryer to lead it, as reported first by journalist Adam Stern. And this decision was made inside the AP newsroom.

In May, Fryer came into a meeting where she was told that the company was changing its sports coverage. As she later explained, management wanted its strongest reporters focused on what it considered its biggest stories. Year-round motorsports coverage was no longer on that priority list.

Instead of covering NASCAR and IndyCar full time, Fryer was offered a much smaller racing role. She would cover the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, and one Formula 1 race each year. The rest of her work would be general assignment reporting, including court cases, scandals, and more mainstream sports stories. But for someone who had been there as long as her, that was essentially the end of what she loved doing.

And so, Fryer accepted a buyout in May 2026 and later said that part of the reason was to help protect another employee’s position in the Charlotte bureau. She briefly launched her own Substack while figuring out what to do next. One of the first people she called was Chip Ganassi, whose team took part in NASCAR until the 2021 season, after which their charters got sold to Trackhouse Racing.

Ganassi immediately saw a veteran reporter was becoming available at the exact moment racing coverage was shrinking. Rather than waiting for fewer reporters to cover his team, he decided to start a media operation of his own. In announcing CGR Media, Ganassi explained exactly why.

“As the media landscape continues to shift, it’s critical that we evolve alongside it. This new division allows us to control our narrative, tell richer stories about our people and performance, and create meaningful value for our partners through premium content,” he said in an official statement.

CGR Media is not conceptually a PR department. The plan has long-form written features, documentary-style video, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and a dedicated website and mobile platform.

For sponsors such as PNC Bank, DHL, Honda, and Sunoco, that’s a marketing opportunity. Instead of appearing only on race cars and uniforms, their brands can be featured in documentaries, feature stories, and original content that reaches fans directly.

The idea behind CGR Media was ambitious. However, it needed someone who knew the sport inside and out. Few people fit that description better than Fryer.

Why Jenna Fryer was the obvious choice for the role

Fryer was hired because very few people understand the sport the way she does. She gave almost three decades of her life to the Associated Press, but the number alone does not establish her reputation. She built relationships with drivers, crew chiefs, engineers, executives, and sponsors across NASCAR and IndyCar. She covered five Olympics and four World Cups during her career, but racing became her specialty after moving to Charlotte and immersing herself in the sport full time.

Her résumé includes Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s decision to sideline himself with a concussion in 2016, extensive reporting on the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust fight against NASCAR, and years of coverage involving Chip Ganassi Racing itself, including the Alex Palou contract dispute and Scott Dixon’s departure after 24 seasons with the team.

That experience is significant for Ganassi since he is entering one of the most important changes for the team. Dixon is leaving after a partnership that produced six IndyCar championships and 58 wins.

Palou is becoming the face of the team while leading the 2026 championship fight. The organization is also helping test IndyCar’s next-generation IR 28 chassis before its planned 2028 debut.

Fryer will now be telling those stories from inside the building instead of outside it. She said the project began almost immediately after the AP changed her role.

“When the AP informed me it was changing my role and the way we cover sports, Chip was one of the first people I called. His immediate response was, ‘How do we continue telling these stories in the best possible way?’ That conversation helped spark the idea for CGR Media.”

That may be the most important part of this entire story. One of the most respected reporters in motorsports lost the beat she so passionately covered. A championship-winning race team responded by creating an entire media division around her expertise.