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