Root Insurance Celebrates First Home INDYCAR Race with Chip Ganassi Racing

INDIANAPOLIS (July 8, 2024) — Root Insurance was back as the primary partner on the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda driven by Marcus Armstrong in this weekend’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Columbus-founded Root celebrated its home race with a special livery on the No. 11, entertained employees and clients throughout the weekend and hosted veterans from The American Legion.

Joining as a Chip Ganassi Racing partner in 2024, Root’s unique data-driven structure means they’re focused on giving customers the most accurate insurance rates based on driving ability. Some drivers save more than half off their auto insurance rates as a result.

Root was the primary partner for Armstrong’s third place run at the Detroit Grand Prix in June, his first career podium finish. This weekend, Armstrong drove the Root car into the Firestone Fast Six, the final round of qualifying, where he set the fifth fastest time. He finished 17th on an alternate strategy.

Jason Shapiro, Senior Vice President at Root, believes in the culture of motorsports to create deep and wide business relationships, create more meaningful connections and increase visibility of the Root brand to their direct-to-consumer product. He sees IndyCar and Chip Ganassi Racing as a perfect partner to do so.

Shapiro sat down with Chip Ganassi Racing to share more about the weekend, Root’s business structure, and how partnering with Chip Ganassi Racing has benefited the company in just a few short months together.

Notes of interest:

• Data Driven Approach to Insurance: Root operates differently than traditional insurance companies utilizing quantitative data and analytics to provide customers with a best-in-class digital insurance offering. Root’s mobile app collects driving data to make sure customers get a rate that matches their driving habits. In some cases, that means drivers save up to 60 percent off their current rates.

• Feeling Good in the Root Colors: In Armstrong’s first race with Root Insurance at Barber Motorsports Park this April, the No. 11 scored its first top 10 finish of the season. In his second race with Root at the Detroit Grand Prix in June, Armstrong scored his first career IndyCar podium, finishing third. He joined the winner, childhood idol, fellow countryman and now-teammate Scott Dixon, in the celebrations.

• Giving Back to the Community: Root has donated its allotment of suite tickets for Friday’s running at Mid-Ohio to The American Legion’s 12th District, representing veterans across Ohio. More than 20 veterans received a free day at the track, seeing the thrilling action of INDYCAR from one of the best seats on the circuit.

Quoteboard:

Jason Shapiro, Senior Vice President of Root Insurance, on:

• Why partnering in motorsports is great for business: “Root is focused on using data and technology via our modern digital platform to provide customers an exceptional way to purchase auto insurance. A lot of analytics and analysis are done day-to-day to optimize performance at the track, this creates a shared vision between Root and Chip Ganassi Racing. It provides the opportunity to be around many partners that share the same vision throughout the season. It's amazing that Root gets more exposure for our brand, but the focus is on cultivating meaningful relationships with companies that share the same vision to push the boundaries and propel our industry forward.”

• How Root is doing insurance differently: “Root is a modern insurance carrier with a very heavy focus on using data and technology to provide customers with an exceptional auto insurance experience. As an insurance carrier Root controls the user experience from start to finish for our customers. The intense focus on data and analytics allows us to optimize our pricing and pick up on market trends at a faster rate. We use our data and analytics to evaluate and determine pricing, determine different points of differentiation, and use technology to score drivers based on their driving behavior.”

• How Root’s model benefits the consumer: “The majority of insurance carriers utilize a customer's credit score as the leading indicator for pricing their insurance. Root utilizes our mobile application which has been downloaded more than 20 million times to score drivers based on a variety of factors directly from their mobile phone. This allows us to create a very specific rate based on how that customer drives. Root has collected more than 25 billion miles of driving data which allows our modeling to be extremely accurate driving more savings to our best drivers.  We believe what should determine your price on insurance should be the quality of your driving, not the quality of your financial statement or your financial position.”

• His experience cultivating business in INDYCAR: “I’ve been a car guy my entire life and Motorsports is a very unique culture with individuals that are highly passionate about the sport. It draws companies and individuals from all walks of life and creates an interesting ecosystem where everyone has a shared passion. I’ve been fortunate to be around motorsports with a few of my companies and have met some exceptional individuals… many of which I can now call lifelong friends. There is a subtle romance to motorsports and spending time with like-minded individuals at the track has led to amazing business opportunities for our company. We've had multiple conversations and meetings with other CGR partnerships, all of which are curious about our business, and we're curious about their business and finding opportunities that are mutually beneficial for us to help each other as we jointly help Chip Ganassi Racing.”

• A special hometown weekend for Root: “We unveiled a custom livery for the weekend, which I'm super proud of the team for. I think it's just a unique design. It stood out on track. It was a way to pay homage to the hometown race. Root's got deep ties to Columbus. A good percentage of our employee base no longer comes into the office every day, so this was a great opportunity to get many of us together. It was great to have team support around the No. 11 car and Marcus and see Root on track.”

• Partnering with Chip Ganassi Racing: “We had a couple of suitors that were calling for sponsorships, and we felt Chip Ganassi brought the right mix for us to be successful in what we were trying to do. We’re big believers in motorsports. We think it cultivates tons of relationships and opportunities, and we’re happy to support Chip and certainly Marcus, and it's easy to join a culture of winning.”

About Root, Inc.

Founded in 2015 and based in Columbus, Ohio, Root, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROOT) is the parent company of Root Insurance Company. Root is revolutionizing insurance through data science and technology to provide consumers a personalized, easy, and fair experience. The Root app has nearly 13 million app downloads and has collected more than 25 billion miles of driving data to inform their insurance offerings. To learn more about Root, visit root.com.