Matt Kenseth to the 42 for the rest of 2020
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Monday morning that Matt Kenseth will be replacing Kyle Larson in the no. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet for the rest of the 2020 NASCAR Cup season.
The move comes in the wake of an incident where Larson uttered a racial slur in the voice chat of an April 12 iRacing event. Two days later, Larson was fired from CGR and had been dropped by many of his sponsors.
The move comes as a shock to many who had projected Ross Chastain, a hot Ganassi prospect, to take over the no. 42 Chevrolet. Chastain is currently racing the no. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series so it’s likely he will focus on the Xfinity championship once racing resumes.
Ganassi will petition NASCAR for a waiver so Kenseth can be eligible for the Playoffs and to race for the NASCAR Cup Series title.
In speaking with the Associated Press, Ganassi noted Kenseth’s accomplishments, including his two Daytona 500s and the 2003 NASCAR Cup championship, and his qualities of being a stable, family man with no baggage.
The 2003 NASCAR Cup champion’s most recent Cup race came with Roush-Fenway Racing in the 2018 Ford EcoBoost 400 where he finished sixth in the no. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford.
UPDATE (12:16 PM EST): AdventHealth, CreditOne, Clover and McDonald’s will each continue their sponsorship of the no. 42 Chevrolet with Kenseth behind the wheel.
SOURCES:
Associated Press
Chip Ganassi Racing
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com