NASCAR operations of Chip Ganassi Racing

Main article: Chip Ganassi Racing

The NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing was established in 1989 by Cuban-American businessman Felix Sabates. The team was known as SABCO Racing, formed after Sabates purchased an R&D team from Hendrick Motorsports.^[1] The team was renamed Team SABCO in 1996.^[2] In 2001, Ganassi bought 80% of the ownership interest in the then-two-car team to form Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates; the same year the team switched from Chevrolet to full-works Dodge and received a same partnership treatment as Penske Racing (from 2003), Evernham Motorsports, Bill Davis Racing, Melling Racing and Petty Enterprises teams.^[3] In 2009, Ganassi partnered with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt to merge their NASCAR operations into Ganassi's shop and entered under the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates banner, while returning to Chevrolet equipment. The NASCAR team dropped the Earnhardt name in 2014, and Ganassi revealed that Teresa was never truly involved with the team.^[4] Rob Kauffman, chairman of the Race Team Alliance, purchased a stake in the team in 2015.^[5] The NASCAR program has fielded full-time entries for notable drivers including Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, and Ross Chastain. After already having his name removed from the team previously, at the end of the 2019 season, Sabates announced his retirement as a co-owner from the team, taking effect after the 2020 season.^[6]

In June 2021, Ganassi accepted an unsolicited offer from former CGR Xfinity Series driver Justin Marks to sell the entire NASCAR operation to Marks' Trackhouse Racing team, with the deal finalized after that season.^[7]

NASCAR Cup Series

On November 12, 2008, Chip Ganassi and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt, widow of seven-time Cup Series champion and DEI namesake Dale Earnhardt, announced that the two teams would merge in time for the 2009 season and run under the name of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (EGR).^[8][9] The Chevrolet equipment of DEI and its engine partnership with Richard Childress Racing (as Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies) were moved under the Ganassi umbrella, and the new team operated out of the CGR NASCAR shop.^[10][11] The move contracted the two organizations with six collective entries to three Sprint Cup Series teams – the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops car driven by Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 8 car of Aric Almirola from the former DEI stable, and the No. 42 car of Juan Pablo Montoya from Ganassi's stable.^[12] The other two DEI cars – the No. 01 and the No. 15 – were disbanded. The No. 41 Ganassi team was planned to continue, but was ultimately shut down when driver Reed Sorenson left for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and when sponsor Target was moved to the No. 42, with the number transferred by NASCAR to Jeremy Mayfield's short-lived owner-driver team.^[9][13] The No. 8 car was also shut down early in the 2009 season.^[12][14]

In 2010 former Ganassi driver Jamie McMurray replaced Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 1 car, making Truex the final driver from the DEI stable to leave. In 2013 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing switched to Hendrick Motorsports engines after four years with Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines. During the five-year tenure of EGR, Teresa Earnhardt had little influence in day-to-day operations of the team, leading Ganassi and Sabates to revert to the team's original name for the 2014 season.^[10][11][15]

In mid-2015, Rob Kauffman, then co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, purchased a stake in the team. Initially expected to absorb one of the two MWR entries, CGR later announced it would remain a two-car operation.^[16]

The pit crew department won the 2017 Comcast Community Champion Award in recognition of their charitable work.^[17]

Car No. 01 history

Part-time (1999–2000)

In 1999, the team fielded No. 01 and served as the team's research and development car. Jeff Green, Steve Grissom, and Ron Hornaday Jr. drove the car on a limited schedule.

In 2000, The No. 01 replaced the No. 42 after New Hampshire and was driven by Ted Musgrave.^[18]

Jason Leffler (2001)

For 2001, Chip Ganassi purchased a majority stake in SABCO, and the BellSouth brand Cingular Wireless became the sponsor. Busch Series driver and former USAC standout Jason Leffler was hired to drive the car, which was now a Dodge.^[19] Leffler's rookie season was a struggle, despite winning a pole at the inaugural race at Kansas Speedway. Leffler failed to qualify for four races, and was replaced with Trans-Am Series driver Dorsey Schroeder at Sonoma and Scott Pruett at Watkins Glen.^[20] Leffler would fail to qualify for the race at Watkins Glen in the No. 04 car and he was released at the end of the season.

Car No. 01 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1999	Jeff Green	01	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	BRI	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV	MCH	POC 21	SON	DAY	NHA	POC																		60th	100
	Steve Grissom																						IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR						TAL 28	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL
	Ron Hornaday Jr.																											RCH 29	NHA	DOV	MAR DNQ	CLT
2000	Ted Musgrave			DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC 16	IND 24		MCH 26	BRI 17	DAR 13	RCH 21	NHA 14	DOV 23	MAR 21	CLT 29	TAL 32	CAR DNQ	PHO 25	HOM DNQ				28th	2815
	P. J. Jones																							GLN 21
	Bobby Hamilton Jr.																																				ATL 31
2001	Jason Leffler		Dodge	DAY 34	CAR 33	LVS 28	ATL 32	DAR 39	BRI DNQ	TEX 17	MAR DNQ	TAL 20	CAL 18	RCH 26	CLT 30	DOV 13	MCH 19	POC 41		DAY 24	CHI 24	NHA 27	POC 21	IND 26		MCH 24	BRI 30	DAR 43	RCH 28	DOV DNQ	KAN 28	CLT 43	MAR 37	TAL 15	PHO 41	CAR 30	HOM 10	ATL DNQ	NHA 30	37th	2413
	Dorsey Schroeder																		SON 25
	Scott Pruett																								GLN 11

Car No. 1 history

Note: Before merging with Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc. fielded a No. 1 car through 2008, most notably with Steve Park driving. For more information, see Dale Earnhardt, Inc. This section concerns the lineage of Chip Ganassi Racing's entry that later became the No. 1 after the merger with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Main articles: Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch

Martin Truex Jr. (2009)

 

The No. 1 Chevrolet with Martin Truex Jr. driving.

Ganassi would move the Target sponsorship to the No. 42 car to replace Texaco/Havoline for 2009, leaving the No. 41 without a driver or a sponsor.^[13] As a result, Ganassi merged his team with the struggling Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and the DEI No. 1 car. DEI's driver (Martin Truex Jr.) and sponsor (Bass Pro Shops) also came over to join Ganassi. Bass Pro Shops, however, reduced its schedule to 20 races. The team also carried its Earnhardt-Childress Engine program over to Ganassi, and switched manufacturers from Dodge to Chevrolet.^[9][21] Truex failed to win a race in his only season driving for Ganassi, and left the team after the season for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Jamie McMurray (2010–2018)

 

McMurray's No. 1 during the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500.

Truex was replaced by Jamie McMurray, who had previously driven for the Ganassi organization from 2002 until 2005, winning his first Cup race with the team as a substitute driver. Bass Pro Shops was joined by McDonald's as a primary sponsor. McMurray started the year off with a bang, winning the 2010 Daytona 500 for Ganassi in his first race in the No. 1 car.^[1] It was the first win for a Ganassi team car since Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350. McMurray returned to the winner's circle by winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, the first time that he had won multiple races in a season since joining the Cup Series full-time in 2003.^[1] Inconsistency throughout the season, however, kept McMurray out of the Chase for the Cup. He added a third win at the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte during the Chase, the same race he won for the 40 team in 2002. McMurray earned four poles, nine top fives and twelve top tens to finish 14th in the final standings, his best points finish since his earlier tenure with Ganassi.

McMurray and the Ganassi team struggled in 2011, earning two top fives and four top tens while failing to finish five races, with a dismal 27th-place points finish. The struggles continued in 2012, with only three top tens and a 21st-place points finish. For 2013, CGR would switch to Hendrick engines looking to improve performance.^[22] McDonald's would become the main sponsor as Bass Pro Shops scaled down to two races. The team also gained a 10 race sponsorship from the Textron Company, with brands Cessna, Bell Helicopter, Bad Boy Buggies, and E-Z-Go adorning the car.^[23] After more struggles in the first half of 2013, McMurray finally broke back into victory lane at the fall Talladega race, his first victory in three seasons. After an improved 15th-place points finish, McMurray would sign a contract extension to return in 2014.^[24]

 

Jamie McMurray in the No. 1 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2016

McMurray won the Sprint All-Star Race in 2014, taking two tires under the final caution and passing leader Carl Edwards within the final ten laps to score the victory and the $1 million bonus.^[25] However, the team did not win a points race during the season and missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Both McMurray and teammate Kyle Larson would rebound after missing the playoff, with the 1 car scoring a pole and four top-fives in the final ten races of the year. Overall, McMurray had seven top fives and 13 top tens to finish 18th in points.

For 2015, former Yates Racing driver Matt McCall was hired as crew chief for McMurray, replacing Keith Rodden.^[26] McMurray started 2015 on a high note, climbing to 8th in the standings within the first ten races and making the Chase for the first time in his career, but ended up being eliminated in the first round on a tiebreaker. He finished 13th in points. McMurray would once again be eliminated from championship contention in the first round of the Chase in 2016, following an engine failure at Dover, he finished 13th in points for the 2nd year in a row. In 2017, McMurray scored 17 top 10s, his best number since 2004, advancing to the Chase once again. This time, he was able to make past the first round but was eliminated in the Round of 12 after crashing at Talladega and Kansas. He finished the season 12th in points.

McMurray failed to make the 2018 Playoffs with a string of disappointing finishes, with one top-five and six top-10s during the regular season. A second-place finish at the 2018 Bank of America Roval 400 was the high point of his season. McMurray finished the 2018 season 20th in points. On September 10, 2018, it was announced that McMurray will not return to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2019.^[27]

Kurt Busch (2019–2021)

 

Kurt Busch in the No. 1 at Sonoma Raceway in 2019

On December 4, 2018, it was announced that former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion Kurt Busch, along with sponsor Monster Energy, would move to the No. 1 team in the 2019 season.^[28] Busch scored his first win with CGR at Kentucky.^[29] On November 2, CGR officially announced that Busch had signed on with the No. 1 team for at least two more years.^[30]

Busch managed to make the 2020 playoffs without winning a race by staying consistent with four top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes. He scored his 32nd career win and his first of 2020 at Las Vegas; the win secured him a spot in the Round of 8.^[31] He failed to advance to the Championship 4 and finished 10th in the final standings.

In 2021, Busch won at Quaker State 400 on July 11, holding off his younger brother Kyle Busch and locking himself into the playoffs. However, Busch was eliminated from the playoffs following the conclusion of the Round of 16 at Bristol, which also ended Ganassi's final chance at a Cup championship as an owner.^[32] After the season concluded when Trackhouse bought the assets to the team, the second team used the number 1, however that team is the old 42 team including driver, crew chief, crew members, and sponsors.

Car No. 1 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2009	Martin Truex Jr.	1	Chevy	DAY 11	CAL 27	LVS 32	ATL 10	BRI 26	MAR 29	TEX 25	PHO 7	TAL 33	RCH 22	DAR 6	CLT 23	DOV 21	POC 18	MCH 26	SON 25	NHA 37	DAY 25	CHI 16	IND 17	POC 19	GLN 28	MCH 21	BRI 22	ATL 26*	RCH 39	NHA 19	DOV 33	KAN 16	CAL 22	CLT 9	MAR 28	TAL 31	TEX 14	PHO 5	HOM 9	23rd	3503
2010	Jamie McMurray			DAY 1	CAL 17	LVS 34	ATL 29	BRI 8	MAR 30	PHO 24	TEX 30	TAL 2	RCH 19	DAR 2	DOV 32	CLT 2	POC 36	MCH 24	SON 15	NHA 18	DAY 39	CHI 5	IND 1	POC 22	GLN 6	MCH 20	BRI 3	ATL 15	RCH 17	NHA 3	DOV 13	KAN 11	CAL 17	CLT 1	MAR 11	TAL 36	TEX 16	PHO 10	HOM 21	14th	4325
2011				DAY 18	PHO 35	LVS 27	BRI 21	CAL 23	MAR 7	TEX 22	TAL 21	RCH 18	DAR 9	DOV 20	CLT 37	KAN 29	POC 33	MCH 19	SON 15	DAY 22	KEN 36	NHA 31	IND 4	POC 22	GLN 17	MCH 23	BRI 5	ATL 16	RCH 14	CHI 38	NHA 23	DOV 15	KAN 22	CLT 27	TAL 29	MAR 35	TEX 36	PHO 17	HOM 14	27th	795
2012				DAY 31	PHO 37	LVS 8	BRI 7	CAL 32	MAR 20	TEX 14	KAN 14	RCH 14	TAL 11	DAR 34	CLT 21	DOV 19	POC 10	MCH 14	SON 19	KEN 15	DAY 13	NHA 20	IND 22	POC 17	GLN 39	MCH 14	BRI 17	ATL 24	RCH 22	CHI 21	NHA 26	DOV 24	TAL 34*	CLT 17	KAN 15	MAR 17	TEX 18	PHO 23	HOM 20	21st	868
2013				DAY 32	PHO 22	LVS 13	BRI 10	CAL 19	MAR 7	TEX 16	KAN 7	RCH 26	TAL 23	DAR 16	CLT 19	DOV 33	POC 13	MCH 33	SON 25	KEN 2	DAY 7	NHA 12	IND 15	POC 16	GLN 11	MCH 22	BRI 19	ATL 11	RCH 4	CHI 19	NHA 5	DOV 11	KAN 16	CLT 19	TAL 1	MAR 10	TEX 31	PHO 18	HOM 30	15th	1007
2014				DAY 14	PHO 10	LVS 15	BRI 38	CAL 6	MAR 42	TEX 17	DAR 16	RCH 13	TAL 29	KAN 39	CLT 5	DOV 13	POC 10	MCH 12	SON 4	KEN 37	DAY 30	NHA 16	IND 20	POC 7	GLN 14	MCH 14	BRI 8*	ATL 12	RCH 4	CHI 9	NHA 4	DOV 22	KAN 25	CLT 3	TAL 35	MAR 16	TEX 5	PHO 14	HOM 5	18th	1014
2015				DAY 27	ATL 40	LVS 11	PHO 2	CAL 21	MAR 10	TEX 6	BRI 14	RCH 4	TAL 11	KAN 13	CLT 19	DOV 7	POC 7	MCH 7	SON 11	DAY 15	KEN 14	NHA 26	IND 17	POC 15	GLN 40	MCH 16	BRI 11	DAR 14	RCH 13	CHI 16	NHA 14	DOV 4	CLT 12	KAN 20	TAL 39	MAR 2	TEX 10	PHO 15	HOM 13	13th	2295
2016				DAY 17	ATL 21	LVS 16	PHO 16	CAL 10	MAR 23	TEX 13	BRI 13	RCH 16	TAL 4	KAN 26	DOV 21	CLT 19	POC 17	MCH 9	SON 17	DAY 34	KEN 7	NHA 6	IND 19	POC 20	GLN 8	BRI 8	MCH 8	DAR 15	RCH 7	CHI 11	NHA 19	DOV 40	CLT 10	KAN 37	TAL 19	MAR 8	TEX 19	PHO 11	HOM 5	13th	2231
2017				DAY 28	ATL 10	LVS 8	PHO 15	CAL 6	MAR 38	TEX 7	BRI 12	RCH 6	TAL 2	KAN 8	CLT 12	DOV 7	POC 37	MCH 5	SON 10	DAY 14	KEN 7	NHA 17	IND 15	POC 26	GLN 14	MCH 9	BRI 12	DAR 10	RCH 14	CHI 10	NHA 16	DOV 9	CLT 5	TAL 37	KAN 34	MAR 29	TEX 18	PHO 6	HOM 13	12th	2224
2018				DAY 16	ATL 19	LVS 36	PHO 26	CAL 17	MAR 26	TEX 3	BRI 19	RCH 19	TAL 28	DOV 16	KAN 31	CLT 6	POC 15	MCH 10	SON 37	CHI 12	DAY 30	KEN 17	NHA 18	POC 20	GLN 7	MCH 21	BRI 29	DAR 9	IND 7	LVS 35	RCH 21	CLT 2	DOV 18	TAL 35	KAN 17	MAR 16	TEX 19	PHO 6	HOM 18	20th	683
2019	Kurt Busch			DAY 25	ATL 3	LVS 5	PHO 7	CAL 6	MAR 12	TEX 9	BRI 2	RCH 11	TAL 6	DOV 13	KAN 7	CLT 27	POC 11	MCH 2	SON 13	CHI 13	DAY 10	KEN 1	NHA 18	POC 27	GLN 10	MCH 23	BRI 9	DAR 7	IND 30	LVS 39	RCH 18	CLT 20	DOV 9	TAL 28	KAN 4	MAR 6	TEX 9	PHO 11	HOM 21	13th	2237
2020				DAY 33	LVS 25	CAL 3	PHO 6	DAR 3	DAR 15	CLT 7	CLT 5	BRI 7	ATL 6	MAR 9	HOM 17	TAL 9	POC 18	POC 13	IND 13	KEN 5	TEX 8	KAN 9	NHA 17	MCH 10	MCH 10	DAY 14	DOV 40	DOV 13	DAY 34	DAR 8	RCH 13	BRI 15	LVS 1	TAL 32	CLT 4	KAN 38	TEX 7	MAR 5	PHO 12	10th	2287
2021				DAY 22	DAY 4	HOM 8	LVS 19	PHO 15	ATL 39	BRI 16	MAR 21	RCH 13	TAL 35	KAN 15	DAR 35	DOV 13	COA 27	CLT 38	SON 6	NSH 8	POC 6	POC 20	ROA 4	ATL 1*	NHA 16	GLN 13	IND 6	MCH 4	DAY 12	DAR 6	RCH 37	BRI 19	LVS 8	TAL 4	CLT 25	TEX 16	KAN 4	MAR 7	PHO 16	11th	2297

Car No. 40 history

Kenny Wallace (1993)

 

Greg Sacks in 1997 for SABCO

 

The No. 40 car in 2006, in the silver Coors Light paint scheme

The No. 40 car debuted in 1993 as the second car in the SABCO stable. It had sponsorship from Dirt Devil and was piloted by rookie driver Kenny Wallace. After Wallace finished 3rd behind Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon in the NASCAR Rookie of the Year standings, he was released at the end of the season.

Multiple Drivers (1994–1997)

Bobby Hamilton drove the car the next season with sponsorship from Kendall Motor Oil, during which the No. 40 car was bought by Dick Brooks. Hamilton finished 23rd in points that year.

The 1995 season saw multiple drivers such as Rich Bickle, Greg Sacks, and Shane Hall pilot the car. But at the end of the season, Brooks closed up shop and sold the team back to Sabates. The team came back in the 1996 season with First Union sponsoring the car and Greg Sacks, Jay Sauter, and Robby Gordon in select events

The team returned for 1997 full-time with rookie driver Robby Gordon, Coors Light moving over from the No. 42, and the team switching from Pontiac to Chevrolet.^[2] Gordon won the pole at the spring Atlanta race. Unfortunately, open-wheel ace Gordon suffered burns during the Indianapolis 500. By the time he returned, the damage was done and despite picking up a Top 5 finish at Watkins Glen, Gordon was released. Sabates later said in a 2007 interview that hiring Robby Gordon was "a mistake", while Gordon said that his departure stemmed from Sabates focusing more on making money than improving the team.^[2] Sacks returned to finish out the year.

Sterling Marlin (1998–2005)

For the 1998 season, Sabates chose a more experienced driver in 2-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin.^[2] Marlin did not qualify at the spring Atlanta race—one year after the team won the pole position there, marking the first time since 1986 that Marlin missed a race. At the end of the year, Marlin had six top-10 finishes and ended up 13th in the points standings.^[2] Marlin showed a brief resurgence in the 1999 season when he won the pole at Pocono. The next year, Marlin placed runner-up to Jeff Gordon at Sonoma, which was his best finish of the season.

In 2001, the car got a new silver-red paint scheme, a manufacturer switch to Dodge, a new crew chief in Lee McCall, and a new owner in Ganassi. Marlin won his qualifying race for the Daytona 500. On the last lap of the 500, Marlin was involved in the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. Many fans sent misguided hate mail and death threats to Marlin and his wife, blaming him for Earnhardt's death.^{[citation needed]} Earnhardt's drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip came to Marlin's defense, and Marlin was cleared of any responsibility by NASCAR's investigation into the crash.^{[citation needed]}

Marlin was able to rise above the controversy, and gave Dodge its first win since its return to NASCAR at Michigan, won again at the UAW-GM Quality 500, and finished 3rd in points, well ahead of the factory-backed Dodges from Evernham Motorsports. Marlin led the points standings for most of the 2002 season and won two races, but he suffered a fractured vertebra in a crash at Kansas Speedway, which ended his season.^[33] Some say that Marlin's injury signified the beginning of the struggles for the team. Jamie McMurray, who was scheduled to drive the No. 42 car the following season, filled in for Marlin in six races, with Mike Bliss running the car at Martinsville.^[34] At Charlotte, McMurray beat out Bobby Labonte to win his 1st race in just his 2nd Winston Cup start. This emotional victory was capped off with a phone call from Marlin through the television network congratulating McMurray on his victory. Marlin would go winless over the next three seasons, with a best finish of 18th in points in 2003 and was released after 2005.

David Stremme (2006–2007)

 

David Stremme at Homestead in 2007

Rookie David Stremme replaced Marlin in the 2006 season.^[35][36][37] This move outraged some fans, since Coors Light and Ganassi both stated that the decision was partly due to Coors Light attempting to target the younger demographic.^[35][38][39] A new primary sponsor, Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, joined the team and split time with Coors.^[35] Stremme did not finish higher than 11th, with an average finish of 26th, and had a 33rd-place finish in the points.^[40] Before the 2007 season started, Lone Star left the No. 40 team as primary sponsor, leaving only Coors Light. After the beginning of the season, Tums also came on as a sponsor of the No. 40 team. Stremme had a much better start to the season, earning his first Top 10 in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, posting his best career finish, 8th, two weeks later in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, and ended the season with three Top 10s. Stremme was released due to Coors Light's departure to become the "Official Beer of NASCAR".

Dario Franchitti (2008)

 

Dario Franchitti at Daytona in 2008.

On October 3, 2007, reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti was announced as the new driver of the No. 40 car for the 2008 season. Due to the lack of sponsorship, the team had to procure one-race partnerships on a rotational basis, with The Hartford, Kennametal, Dodge Journey, Target, Dodge Avenger, and Wii Fit appearing on the car. Franchitti suffered ankle injuries in a Nationwide Series race at Talladega, causing him to miss several races. Marlin, Stremme, Ken Schrader, and Jeremy Mayfield filled in during his absence.^{[41][42][43][44][45]}

Ganassi shut the team down in July due to its lack of funding mid-season, with around 70 employees laid off.^[9][46][47] Franchitti, meanwhile, moved to CGR's IndyCar operation.^[48] The team was revived for several fall races with Bryan Clauson driving, but race qualifying was rained out twice and the team did not make the field due to being too low in the owner points. When qualifying was finally staged at Texas, Clauson subsequently failed to qualify, and the team was shut down again.^[43][49]

Car No. 40 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1993	Kenny Wallace	40	Pontiac	DAY 23	CAR 23	RCH 26	ATL 16	DAR 32	BRI 13	NWS 15	MAR 24	TAL 14	SON 36	CLT 23	DOV 13	POC 15	MCH 29	DAY 28	NHA 21	POC 23	TAL 35	GLN 9	MCH 23	BRI 9	DAR 10	RCH 32	DOV 16	MAR 15	NWS 27	CLT 35	CAR 37	PHO 17	ATL 30							23rd	2893
1994	Bobby Hamilton			DAY 12	CAR 38	RCH 33	ATL 19	DAR 25	BRI 9	NWS 14	MAR 13	TAL 12	SON 33	CLT 17	DOV 34	POC 27	MCH 41	DAY 24	NHA 40	POC 23	TAL 22	IND 24	GLN 34	MCH DNQ	BRI 28	DAR 22	RCH 34	DOV 31	MAR 13	NWS 12	CLT 19	CAR 33	PHO 11	ATL 24						23rd	2749
1995	Greg Sacks			DAY DNQ	CAR 41	RCH 19	ATL 29	DAR 22	BRI 36	NWS 35	MAR 22	TAL 35	SON DNQ	CLT DNQ	DOV 28	POC 33	MCH DNQ																							37th	1890
	Andy Hillenburg																	DAY 36
	Rich Bickle																		NHA 38	POC 30		IND 37		MCH DNQ	BRI 31	DAR 21		DOV 35	MAR DNQ	NWS 27	CLT 38
	Randy LaJoie																				TAL 40
	Butch Leitzinger																						GLN 12
	Shane Hall																										RCH DNQ					CAR 36	PHO DNQ	ATL DNQ
1996	Jay Sauter			DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR DNQ	RCH DNQ	DOV	MAR	NWS										56th	235
	Greg Sacks		Chevy																												CLT 24			ATL 18
	Robby Gordon																															CAR 42	PHO 42
1997				DAY 16	CAR 33	RCH 28	ATL 14	DAR 34	TEX 34	BRI 43	MAR 41	SON 41		CLT 41					DAY 22	NHA 34	POC 42	IND 28	GLN 4	MCH 17	BRI DNQ	DAR 22	RCH 42	NHA 24	DOV 33											37th	1940
	Joe Nemechek												TAL 19
	Wally Dallenbach Jr.														DOV 36
	Greg Sacks															POC 42	MCH DNQ	CAL 27														TAL 39	CAR 39	PHO 21	ATL DNQ
	Steve Park																													MAR 41
	Elliott Sadler																														CLT DNQ
1998	Sterling Marlin			DAY 22	CAR 25	LVS 24	ATL DNQ	DAR 14	BRI 40	TEX 14	MAR 36	TAL 9	CAL 14	CLT 15	DOV 19	RCH 10	MCH 18	POC 9	SON 7	NHA 35	POC 11	IND 11	GLN 7	MCH 15	BRI 21	NHA 17	DAR 8	RCH 15	DOV 16	MAR 18*	CLT 30	TAL 14	DAY 18	PHO 12	CAR 13	ATL 42				13th	3530
1999				DAY 32	CAR 37	LVS 15	ATL 18	DAR 16	TEX 9	BRI 14	MAR 13	TAL 25	CAL 16	RCH 18	CLT 40	DOV 29	MCH 22	POC 4	SON 25	DAY 12	NHA 34	POC 28	IND 16	GLN 33	MCH 15	BRI 7	DAR 40	RCH 4	NHA 21	DOV 38	MAR 11	CLT 29	TAL 22	CAR 8	PHO 40	HOM 17	ATL 31			16th	3397
2000				DAY 24	CAR 15	LVS 18	ATL 12	DAR 21	BRI 10	TEX 34	MAR 24	TAL 8	CAL 32	RCH 29	CLT 19	DOV 31	MCH 10	POC 22	SON 2	DAY 25	NHA 25	POC 42	IND 30	GLN 30	MCH 15	BRI 8	DAR 17	RCH 20	NHA 22	DOV 37	MAR 9	CLT 31	TAL 41	CAR 33	PHO 15	HOM 26	ATL 8			19th	3363
2001			Dodge	DAY 7	CAR 8	LVS 3	ATL 35	DAR 5	BRI 12	TEX 34	MAR 5	TAL 23*	CAL 9	RCH 11	CLT 15	DOV 6	MCH 3	POC 4	SON 28	DAY 39	CHI 9	NHA 17	POC 16	IND 2	GLN 25	MCH 1	BRI 9	DAR 16	RCH 32	DOV 8	KAN 5	CLT 1*	MAR 10	TAL 17	PHO 34	CAR 11	HOM 5	ATL 2	NHA 2	3rd	4741
2002				DAY 8*	CAR 2	LVS 1	ATL 9	DAR 1	BRI 19	TEX 7	MAR 12	TAL 5	CAL 7	RCH 11	CLT 11	DOV 13	POC 4	MCH 21	SON 43	DAY 3	CHI 16	NHA 14	POC 3*	IND 27	GLN 30	MCH 6	BRI 7	DAR 4	RCH 43	NHA 21	DOV 21	KAN 33								8th	4503
	Jamie McMurray																																TAL 26	CLT 1*		ATL 7	CAR 15	PHO 40	HOM 22
	Mike Bliss																																		MAR 14
2003	Sterling Marlin			DAY 17	CAR 40	LVS 8	ATL 14	DAR 39	BRI 6	TEX 29	TAL 6	MAR 7	CAL 10	RCH 13	CLT 7	DOV 35	POC 6*	MCH 6*	SON 18	DAY 19	CHI 21	NHA 39	POC 10	IND 34	GLN 43	MCH 19	BRI 17	DAR 31	RCH 22	NHA 29	DOV 13	TAL 39	KAN 34	CLT 15	MAR 43	ATL 16	PHO 11	CAR 10	HOM 10	18th	3745
2004				DAY 37	CAR 4	LVS 18	ATL 16	DAR 14	BRI 4	TEX 26	MAR 9	TAL 31	CAL 27	RCH 15	CLT 39	DOV 29	POC 31	MCH 6	SON 21	DAY 20	CHI 7	NHA 21	POC 15	IND 33	GLN 36	MCH 15	BRI 6	CAL 26	RCH 14	NHA 12	DOV 15	TAL 34	KAN 34	CLT 12	MAR 4	ATL 19	PHO 25	DAR 12	HOM 16	21st	3857
2005				DAY 8	CAL 15	LVS 35	ATL 16	BRI 11	MAR 6	TEX 5	PHO 26	TAL 34	DAR 41	RCH 23	CLT 39	DOV 32	POC 16	MCH 40	SON 26	DAY 22	CHI 32	NHA 34	POC 28	IND 9		MCH 21	BRI 29	CAL 19	RCH 41	NHA 11	DOV 41	TAL 7	KAN 13	CLT 40	MAR 38	ATL 20	TEX 23	PHO 34	HOM 26	30th	3183
	Scott Pruett																								GLN 4
2006	David Stremme			DAY 28	CAL 33	LVS 33	ATL 33	BRI 36	MAR 38	TEX 21	PHO 29	TAL 34	RCH 33	DAR 25	CLT 31	DOV 41	POC 26	MCH 19		DAY 16	CHI 21	NHA 11	POC 29	IND 18		MCH 28	BRI 35	CAL 36	RCH 26	NHA 20	DOV 18	KAN 26	TAL 33	CLT 15	MAR 15	ATL 39	TEX 24	PHO 18	HOM 11	33rd	2865
	Scott Pruett																		SON 30						GLN 6
2007	David Stremme			DAY 11	CAL 19	LVS 20	ATL 13	BRI 13	MAR 35	TEX 10	PHO 43	TAL 8	RCH 38	DAR 37	CLT 17	DOV 36	POC 23	MCH 40	SON 32	NHA 27	DAY 22	CHI 34	IND 26	POC 25	GLN 21	MCH 21	BRI 14	CAL 34	RCH 19	NHA 42	DOV 39	KAN 17	TAL 17	CLT 9	MAR 37	ATL 39	TEX 41	PHO 20	HOM 11	24th	3163
2008	Dario Franchitti			DAY 33	CAL 32	LVS 33	ATL 33	BRI 36	MAR 22	TEX DNQ	PHO 32						POC 41	MCH 43	SON DNQ	NHA 38	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL							44th	1058
	David Stremme											TAL 28
	Ken Schrader												RCH DNQ
	Sterling Marlin													DAR 34	CLT 31
	Jeremy Mayfield															DOV 25
	Bryan Clauson																																	CLT DNQ	MAR	ATL DNQ	TEX DNQ	PHO	HOM

Car No. 41 history

Jimmy Spencer (2002)

 

Reed Sorenson in 2008.

With Cingular moving to Richard Childress Racing to sponsor the No. 31 car, long time Ganassi backer Target became the sponsor of the former 01 team, the number was changed to No. 41, and veteran Jimmy Spencer was tabbed to replace Leffler.^[18][50][51] Spencer did not qualify for the Daytona 500, and was replaced by road course ringer Scott Pruett at Watkins Glen, with Pruett finishing a strong sixth.^[20] The high point of the season was at the Food City 500 at Bristol in the spring, when Spencer and fierce rival Kurt Busch engaged in a heated battle at the end of the race. Busch, on worn tires, would go to victory lane while Spencer scored a season-best second-place finish. In 34 races, Spencer scored two Top 5's and six Top 10 finishes en route to a 27th-place points finish, and was released to make way for Ganassi's Busch driver, Casey Mears.

Casey Mears (2003–2005)

Busch Series driver Casey Mears was hired to drive the car, joining fellow rookie teammate Jamie McMurray. Mears struggled in his rookie season but steadily improved over the next two seasons.

Reed Sorenson (2006–2008)

For 2006 another young driver, Reed Sorenson was hired to drive the No. 41 car full-time, and Mears replaced McMurray in the No. 42 car. Sorenson had five Top 10's and ended the 2006 season 24th in the standings.^[40] After finishing 22nd in the standings with three Top 5's and six Top 10's in 2007, the No. 41 team only managed one Top 5 and two Top 10's and dropped to 32nd in the final standings in 2008. In an effort to keep the car higher in points, Scott Pruett took over at Sonoma, finishing 38th after a late-race wreck. Sorenson left the team to drive for Richard Petty Motorsports.

Car No. 41 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2002	Jimmy Spencer	41	Dodge	DAY DNQ	CAR 20	LVS 10	ATL 26	DAR 37	BRI 2	TEX 8	MAR 21	TAL 17	CAL 27	RCH 10	CLT 25	DOV 23	POC 21	MCH 28	SON 36	DAY 4	CHI 32	NHA 11	POC 32	IND 31		MCH 34	BRI 8	DAR 18	RCH 42	NHA 15	DOV 35	KAN 24	TAL 21	CLT 32	MAR 24	ATL 30	CAR 31	PHO 23	HOM 42	27th	3187
	Scott Pruett																								GLN 6
2003	Casey Mears			DAY 27	CAR 30	LVS 15	ATL 23	DAR 34	BRI 32	TEX 27	TAL 40	MAR 36	CAL 34	RCH 28	CLT 35	DOV 40	POC 21	MCH 20	SON 26	DAY 25	CHI 34	NHA 16	POC 35	IND 29	GLN 32	MCH 41	BRI 21	DAR 35	RCH 41	NHA 17	DOV 36	TAL 37	KAN 24	CLT 42	MAR 17	ATL 28	PHO 42	CAR 33	HOM 27	35th	2638
2004				DAY 14	CAR 21	LVS 7	ATL 34	DAR 15	BRI 36	TEX 7	MAR 37	TAL 8	CAL 8	RCH 32	CLT 7	DOV 28	POC 10	MCH 31	SON 7	DAY 11	CHI 15	NHA 26	POC 18	IND 26	GLN 4	MCH 20	BRI 30	CAL 29	RCH 35	NHA 29	DOV 24	TAL 8	KAN 31	CLT 20	MAR 29	ATL 13	PHO 34	DAR 26	HOM 26	22nd	3690
2005				DAY 26	CAL 22	LVS 7	ATL 19	BRI 43	MAR 17	TEX 4	PHO 39	TAL 14	DAR 39	RCH 28	CLT 34	DOV 24	POC 18	MCH 21	SON 20	DAY 43	CHI 9	NHA 33	POC 21	IND 6	GLN 23	MCH 14	BRI 34	CAL 32	RCH 23	NHA 23	DOV 10	TAL 38	KAN 8	CLT 6	MAR 22	ATL 21	TEX 4	PHO 22	HOM 5	22nd	3637
2006	Reed Sorenson			DAY 29	CAL 21	LVS 40	ATL 10	BRI 22	MAR 12	TEX 13	PHO 40	TAL 26	RCH 23	DAR 11	CLT 10	DOV 19	POC 36	MCH 5	SON 29	DAY 34	CHI 7	NHA 24	POC 26	IND 30	GLN 12	MCH 8	BRI 36	CAL 21	RCH 14	NHA 17	DOV 11	KAN 43	TAL 39	CLT 36	MAR 35	ATL 29	TEX 17	PHO 29	HOM 16	24th	3434
2007				DAY 13	CAL 43	LVS 31	ATL 9	BRI 43	MAR 18	TEX 40	PHO 15	TAL 25	RCH 21	DAR 40	CLT 4	DOV 27	POC 24	MCH 23	SON 40	NHA 26	DAY 42	CHI 12	IND 5	POC 28	GLN 28	MCH 38	BRI 15	CAL 21	RCH 32	NHA 14	DOV 30	KAN 7	TAL 10	CLT 30	MAR 41	ATL 3	TEX 40	PHO 19	HOM 22	22nd	3275
2008				DAY 5	CAL 37	LVS 18	ATL 31	BRI 31	MAR 36	TEX 24	PHO 42	TAL 43	RCH 12	DAR 32	CLT 22	DOV 26	POC 33	MCH 34		NHA 6	DAY 22	CHI 31	IND 17	POC 35	GLN 31	MCH 33	BRI 36	CAL 27	RCH 26	NHA 22	DOV 30	KAN 26	TAL 23	CLT 15	MAR 35	ATL 39	TEX 37	PHO 31	HOM 31	32nd	2795
	Scott Pruett																		SON 38

Car No. 42 history

1989–2000: Original No. 42

Kyle Petty (1989–1996)

 

Kyle Petty's No. 42 SABCO Pontiac in 1989.

The No. 42 car debuted in 1989 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as PEAK-sponsored Pontiac for SABCO Racing, Felix Sabates' race team. The car was driven by Kyle Petty,^[1] who finished fourth in the race. The car ran on and off for the rest of the year before moving to full-time status in 1990. Petty scored one victory and finished 11th in points that year. He was running strong in 1991 with a new sponsorship from Mello Yello,^[2] before he broke his leg in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Over the next 11 races, he was replaced by Bobby Hillin Jr., Tommy Kendall, and Kenny Wallace while recovering. After returning, he won four races finished fifth in points in both 1992 and 1993. After that, Petty's career began to run out of steam. He won his final race in 1995 at Dover, the first year the car had Coors Light as a sponsor.^[2] In 1996, Petty was temporarily replaced by Jim Sauter to recover from more injuries.

Joe Nemechek (1997–1999)

 

Joe Nemechek in the Team SABCO No. 42 in 1997.

In 1997, Kyle Petty and team owner Sabates split and sponsor Coors Light moved to the No. 40 car.^[2] The team switched from Pontiac to Chevy. Joe Nemechek and sponsor BellSouth proceeded to come on board.^[2] The year got off to a rocky start when Nemechek did not qualify for the Daytona 500 but was able to get in on a car bought from Phil Barkdoll. After losing his brother John in a crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway (and missing Darlington to attend his funeral, during which he was replaced by Phil Parsons), Nemechek won two pole positions and finished 28th in points, followed up by a then-career best 26th in 1998. Weeks after announcing that they would not race together after the 1999 season had ended, Nemechek won his first Winston Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway, and won two more poles. The No. 42 was 87 in 1996.

2000: Transition to Chip Ganassi Racing

Kenny Irwin Jr. (2000)

 

Kenny Irwin Jr.'s BellSouth Chevrolet in 2000.

In 2000, former Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin Jr. took over the 42 car. He was just adjusting to his new team, scoring a single top ten in the first 17 races, when in July he was killed in an accident at New Hampshire during Cup Series practice, the first race since the team won there the previous year.^[52][18] The team took one week off and returned as the No. 01 driven by Ted Musgrave.^[18]

Jamie McMurray (2003–2005)

Originally the 42 was planned to run the Daytona 500 with Swedish CART driver Kenny Bräck in the car and even completed testing at Daytona, the team never attempted the Daytona 500. The car came back as No. 42 in 2002 at Watkins Glen when Jimmy Spencer attempted but failed to qualify the car while Scott Pruett drove Spencer's normal car, the No. 41.^[20] The car was scheduled to run seven more races with Jamie McMurray driving, but when McMurray filled in for Sterling Marlin, the team did not run until 2003. The No. 42 team ran full-time in 2003, with McMurray as the driver and Texaco/Havoline as the sponsor.^[18] McMurray won Rookie of the Year honors in the Winston Cup Series. He failed to win a race in 2004, but had a very good season, with 23 Top-10s. He finished 11th in series points, the best of the non-Chasers. In 2005, McMurray missed the Chase after he was passed by Ryan Newman just before the Chase started, and McMurray finished 12th in points.

Casey Mears (2006)

McMurray left after the 2005 season to replace Kurt Busch at Roush Racing. Casey Mears moved over from the No. 41 to take his place during the 2006 season. He finished runner-up at the Daytona 500, but failed to win a race during the season and finished 14th in points.^[40] Mears decided to leave Ganassi, moving to Hendrick Motorsports for 2007.^[40]

Juan Pablo Montoya (2007–2013)

 

Juan Pablo Montoya in Texaco colors in 2007.

In July 2006, it was announced that former Indianapolis 500 winner, CART Champion, and at-that-time Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya would replace Mears in the No. 42 for 2007.^[40] Texaco returned to sponsor the car, with additional funding from Wrigley gum brands Big Red and Juicy Fruit.^[21] Montoya won his first career Nextel Cup race during his rookie season at Sonoma in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, ending a nearly five-year victory drought the Chip Ganassi Racing organization had since the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500.^[40] He ended the year 20th in points and won Rookie of the Year. After he failed to return to victory lane and dropped to 25th in points despite some good results and a second place in the Aaron's 499 in 2008, Texaco/Havoline left the team.

 

Montoya's Target Corporation scheme in 2009.

With Texaco leaving and the Wrigley Company not able to cover the full season, long-time Ganassi sponsor Target moved over from the No. 41 to the No. 42 for 2009.^[13][21] Upon merging with DEI, the team absorbed the team's Chevrolet equipment after running Dodges since 2003.^[9][21] In 2009, Montoya had a breakout season, with seven top 5s, 18 top 10s, and 2 poles. He qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished eighth in the overall standings, the best season-ending points position for Ganassi since Sterling Marlin's third-place finish in the final standings in 2001. Midway through 2010, Montoya had sported great runs but didn't have the finishes to show for it, specifically at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Montoya dominated, but his crew chief Brian Pattie called for four tires late in the race, causing Montoya to fall to 8th and never recover. A similar situation happened the following week at Pocono when Montoya was running second at a late stage in the race, and Pattie again called for four tires, placing Montoya back in traffic. Montoya and Pattie were heard arguing over the radio. The next weekend, however, Montoya won his second career race, dominating at Watkins Glen. Montoya ended up placing 17th in the overall standings for 2010.

The 2011 season started fast for the 42 bunch. Montoya posted a 6th in the season opener at Daytona and then finished 3rd at the Las Vegas. At Talladega Montoya was involved in a late crash with the No. 39 car of Ryan Newman. Two weeks later at Richmond, Newman and Montoya were involved in two crashes, relegating them to 20th and 29th-place finishes respectively. At Dover Montoya was running for the lead but after a vibration and a crash involving the No. 27 car of Paul Menard, Montoya finished 32nd. Later at the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Montoya had a great run and looked like he was going to fight Kurt Busch for the lead but crashed in an incident with Brad Keselowski near the end of the race and finished in 22nd. Montoya was inconsistent for the rest of the year except for a 7th-place finish at Watkins Glen on August 14 and a 9th-place finish on August 25 at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire.

Montoya's struggles continued through 2012, as the Ganassi program as a whole was looking for answers. In 2013, after Ganassi switched to Hendrick Motorsports engines, Montoya nearly won at Dover, but was passed in the final laps by Tony Stewart, and finished second. Montoya would also have a strong run at Richmond leading several laps, but would again come up short. Later, on August 13, 2013, it was announced that Montoya's contract with Ganassi would not be renewed for the 2014 season.^[53]

Kyle Larson (2014–2020)

 

Kyle Larson at Daytona in 2016.

For 2014, promising development driver Kyle Larson took over the No. 42 after winning the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. Montoya, meanwhile departed for Chip Ganassi's rival, Team Penske, in the IndyCar Series. For 2014, Larson competed with what many deemed to be the strongest rookie class in the series' history, including 2013 Nationwide Series champion Austin Dillon and several of their former Nationwide Series competitors.^[54] Larson nearly won at Auto Club Speedway, finishing second to Kyle Busch after a late-race restart. Larson defeated Busch the day before to capture the victory in the Nationwide Series race. He had a steady amount of top 10 finishes in the first half of 2014 and finished fourth at his second road course race at Watkins Glen. Larson had numerous crashes and tire failures but won a competitive Rookie of the Year title. He would struggle in 2015, including having to miss the 2015 STP 500 due to dehydration. Larson's best finish that year would be third at the spring Dover race, but he would finish 19th in points. In 2016, Larson would rebound from his sophomore year, taking his first career victory at the 2016 Pure Michigan 400, qualifying him for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. However, both he and teammate McMurray would be eliminated from championship contention after the Citizen Soldier 400.

In 2017, Larson captured his second career victory at the 2017 Auto Club 400 after securing pole position for the race. This completed his first "Weekend Sweep", which is when a driver wins every race run during the weekend. Larson would win three more races that year, sweeping both Michigan races and winning the last race before the playoffs at Richmond. Larson looked like a championship contender for most of the year, staying in the top-three in points from races 3 to 31 of the season. However, an engine failure at Kansas resulted in him being eliminated at the Round of 12 of the Playoffs, the first of four straight DNFs for Larson, relegating him to an eighth-place finish in points.

In 2018, Larson returned with his Credit One Bank/DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Despite being winless, he made the Playoffs by staying consistent in the regular season with four second-place finishes, eight top-fives, and 14 top-10s. Larson had a dominant car at the Inaugural Charlotte Roval race but was caught in a multi-car pileup in a late restart that also involved Playoff contenders Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. His heavily damaged No. 42 car took advantage of Jeffrey Earnhardt being spun out by Daniel Hemric on the final lap and limped across the finish line in 25th place, securing him in the top 12. Larson experienced further bad luck at the fall Talladega race when he blew a right-front tire and spun out. He finished 11th in the race but was docked 10 driver and 10 owner points after the team violated the damaged vehicle policy by using metal tabs instead of fasteners and/or tape to repair the torn right front fender.^[55] Despite finishing third at the fall Kansas race, Larson was eliminated in the Round of 12 of the Playoffs. He finished the season ninth in points.

During the 2019 season, Larson made history by becoming only the third driver to win the Monster Energy Open and the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race.^[56] Larson once again made the Playoffs, his 4th straight appearance. Right after advancing past the Round of 16, Larson broke a 75-race winless streak by winning at Dover after qualifying second, immediately advancing to the Round of 8.^[57]

On April 13, 2020, NASCAR and iRacing indefinitely suspended Larson after he used a racial slur during an iRacing event.^[58] In a statement posted to Twitter, Chip Ganassi Racing had announced that they had suspended Larson without pay. As a result of his actions, McDonald's, Credit One Bank, Advent Health and Fiserv terminated their sponsorship of Larson. In addition, Chevrolet suspended its relationship with Larson indefinitely.^[59] CGR fired Larson the following day.^[60]

Matt Kenseth (2020)

On April 27, 2020, it was announced that Matt Kenseth would fill in for the remainder of the season. In addition, NASCAR granted him a waiver for eligibility in the 2020 playoffs.^[61][62][63] Other than a second place run in the Brickyard 400, the season was forgettable for the 42 team as Kenseth finished 28th in the final standings with two Top 10's in his 32 races. After the year, Kenseth formally retired from NASCAR and primary sponsor Credit One Bank left the organization.

Ross Chastain (2021)

 

Chastain in the No. 42 at Sonoma Raceway in 2021

On September 21, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Ross Chastain would replace Kenseth in the No. 42 Chevrolet in 2021.^[64] After a few great runs including a third place finish in the Southern 500 and a second place at the inaugural Ally 400 at Nashville, the team missed the playoffs and finished 20th in points in his first fulltime season as a Cup driver. After the season however, Ganassi sold his assets to Justin Marks and the Trackhouse Racing. After a short decision, the team decided to bring the whole 42 team over including Ross, crew chief Phil Surgen, the crew and sponsors including Advent Health but the 42 number did not come over as that team now runs as the 1 car. The 42 number however was not out of use long as the Petty GMS Racing team picked up its second car as the 42.

Car No. 42 results

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1989	Kyle Petty	42	Pontiac	DAY DNQ	CAR	ATL 4	RCH DNQ	DAR 28	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 28	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 6	DAY 14	POC 14	TAL 7	GLN	MCH 9	BRI 27	DAR 14	RCH 32	DOV 11	MAR 30	CLT 29	NWS 31	CAR 10	PHO 21	ATL 6								30th	2099
1990				DAY 24	RCH 11	CAR 1*	ATL 6	DAR 13	BRI 10	NWS 10	MAR 16	TAL 7	CLT 17	DOV 9	SON 16	POC 10	MCH 8	DAY 10	POC 35	TAL 8	GLN 17	MCH 16	BRI 28	DAR 25	RCH 6	DOV 8	MAR 23	NWS 10	CLT 4	CAR 20*	PHO 41	ATL 41								11th	3501
1991				DAY 16*	RCH 25	CAR 1*	ATL 39	DAR 6	BRI 21	NWS 18	MAR 2	TAL 33												DAR 22	RCH 26	DOV 12	MAR 12	NWS 16	CLT 15	CAR 9	PHO 20	ATL 19								25th	2810
	Kenny Wallace												CLT 13	DOV 26
	Tommy Kendall														SON 18
	Bobby Hillin Jr.															POC 15	MCH 15	DAY 15	POC 28	TAL 11	GLN 18	MCH 33	BRI 30
1992	Kyle Petty			DAY 6	CAR 29	RCH 20	ATL 8	DAR 27	BRI 19	NWS 28	MAR 18	TAL 10	CLT 3*	DOV 29	SON 12	POC 6	MCH 4	DAY 14	POC 7	TAL 6	GLN 1*	MCH 6	BRI 4	DAR 7	RCH 12	DOV 3	MAR 4	NWS 3	CLT 3*	CAR 1*	PHO 19	ATL 16								5th	3945
1993				DAY 31	CAR 32	RCH 5*	ATL 7	DAR 7	BRI 3	NWS 2	MAR 5	TAL 18	SON 5	CLT 14	DOV 29	POC 1*	MCH 12	DAY 33	NHA 8	POC 27	TAL 4	GLN 26	MCH 18	BRI 30	DAR 16	RCH 9	DOV 14	MAR 10	NWS 4	CLT 7	CAR 13	PHO 3	ATL 11							5th	3860
1994				DAY 39	CAR 8	RCH 5	ATL 13	DAR 11	BRI 20	NWS 4	MAR 26	TAL 13	SON 11	CLT 26	DOV 11	POC 12	MCH 17	DAY 34	NHA 8	POC 27	TAL 19	IND 25	GLN 37	MCH 6	BRI 15	DAR 12	RCH 38	DOV 6	MAR 24	NWS 26	CLT 30	CAR 36	PHO 6	ATL 22						16th	3339
1995				DAY 12	CAR 10	RCH 33	ATL 14	DAR 35	BRI 35	NWS 31	MAR 9	TAL 31	SON 28	CLT 29	DOV 1*	POC 39	MCH 42	DAY 7	NHA 37	POC 28	TAL 6	IND 25	GLN 39	MCH 42	BRI DNQ	DAR 24	RCH 25	DOV 26	MAR 11	NWS 30	CLT 15	CAR 32	PHO 39	ATL 33						30th	2638
1996				DAY 18	CAR 11	RCH 20	ATL 22	DAR 12	BRI 15	NWS 30	MAR 30	TAL 18	SON 30	CLT 23	DOV 18	POC 20	MCH 38	DAY 24	NHA 28	POC 26	TAL 12	IND 38	GLN 23			DAR 17	RCH 18	DOV 8	MAR 8	NWS 31	CLT 41	CAR 25	PHO 29	ATL DNQ						27th	2696
	Jim Sauter																							MCH 21	BRI 31
1997	Joe Nemechek		Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR 35	RCH 39	ATL 39		TEX 29	BRI 19	MAR 19	SON DNQ	TAL DNQ	CLT 19	DOV 15	POC 36	MCH 41	CAL 18	DAY 24	NHA 40	POC 21	IND 32	GLN 12	MCH 27	BRI 38	DAR 23	RCH 6	NHA 13	DOV 20	MAR 25	CLT 16	TAL 31	CAR 10	PHO 24	ATL 8					30th	2714
	Phil Parsons							DAR 31
1998	Joe Nemechek			DAY 26	CAR 39	LVS 37	ATL 35	DAR 37	BRI DNQ	TEX 4	MAR 24	TAL 32	CAL 22	CLT 6	DOV 26	RCH 12	MCH 9	POC 35	SON 25	NHA 36	POC 17	IND 24	GLN 12	MCH 12	BRI 31	NHA 18	DAR 35	RCH 37	DOV 29	MAR 40	CLT 7	TAL 29	DAY 17	PHO 18	CAR 17	ATL 40				26th	2897
1999				DAY 36	CAR 24	LVS 35	ATL 14	DAR 19	TEX 33	BRI 36	MAR 37	TAL 34	CAL 40	RCH 6	CLT 32	DOV 25	MCH 34	POC 42	SON 19	DAY 16	NHA 37	POC 29	IND 22	GLN 30	MCH 22	BRI 19	DAR 6	RCH 20	NHA 1	DOV 35	MAR 38	CLT 13	TAL 30	CAR 26	PHO 19	HOM 21	ATL 32			30th	2956
2000	Kenny Irwin Jr.			DAY 14	CAR 22	LVS 24	ATL 24	DAR 38	BRI 40	TEX 17	MAR 37	TAL 4	CAL 42	RCH 42	CLT 24	DOV 17	MCH 35	POC 25	SON 23	DAY 22	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL			28th	2815
2002	Jimmy Spencer		Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN DNQ	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	72nd^[65]	22^[65]
2003	Jamie McMurray			DAY 31	CAR 5	LVS 32	ATL 36	DAR 22	BRI 11	TEX 10	TAL 27	MAR 39	CAL 5	RCH 22	CLT 25	DOV 13	POC 32	MCH 14	SON 20	DAY 37	CHI 8	NHA 40	POC 28	IND 3	GLN 22	MCH 36	BRI 3	DAR 4	RCH 19	NHA 10	DOV 6	TAL 16	KAN 8	CLT 7	MAR 8	ATL 15	PHO 12	CAR 35	HOM 9	13th	3965
2004				DAY 36	CAR 3	LVS 4	ATL 37	DAR 21	BRI 8	TEX 10	MAR 7	TAL 9	CAL 15	RCH 38	CLT 4	DOV 15	POC 9	MCH 37	SON 2	DAY 37	CHI 13	NHA 7	POC 30	IND 7	GLN 13	MCH 4	BRI 7	CAL 4	RCH 9	NHA 5	DOV 8	TAL 17	KAN 7	CLT 8	MAR 2	ATL 8	PHO 24	DAR 4	HOM 7	11th	4597
2005				DAY 32	CAL 4	LVS 15	ATL 11	BRI 24	MAR 25	TEX 2	PHO 25	TAL 5	DAR 6	RCH 10	CLT 21	DOV 26	POC 10	MCH 13	SON 13	DAY 2	CHI 22	NHA 40	POC 11	IND 17	GLN 13	MCH 20	BRI 26	CAL 8	RCH 40	NHA 12	DOV 29	TAL 12	KAN 18	CLT 31	MAR 7	ATL 6	TEX 11	PHO 18	HOM 18	12th	4130
2006	Casey Mears			DAY 2	CAL 7	LVS 9	ATL 21	BRI 25	MAR 27	TEX 14	PHO 20	TAL 20	RCH 17	DAR 17	CLT 23	DOV 21	POC 43	MCH 7	SON 20	DAY 7	CHI 25	NHA 21	POC 23	IND 23	GLN 35	MCH 16	BRI 17	CAL 14	RCH 11	NHA 21	DOV 22	KAN 2	TAL 30	CLT 12	MAR 6	ATL 28	TEX 7	PHO 26	HOM 32	14th	3914
2007	Juan Pablo Montoya			DAY 19	CAL 26	LVS 22	ATL 5	BRI 32	MAR 16	TEX 8	PHO 33	TAL 31	RCH 26	DAR 23	CLT 28	DOV 31	POC 20	MCH 43	SON 1	NHA 19	DAY 32	CHI 15	IND 2	POC 16	GLN 39	MCH 26	BRI 17	CAL 33	RCH 41	NHA 23	DOV 10	KAN 28	TAL 15	CLT 37	MAR 8	ATL 34	TEX 25	PHO 17	HOM 15	20th	3487
2008				DAY 32	CAL 20	LVS 19	ATL 16	BRI 15	MAR 13	TEX 19	PHO 16	TAL 2	RCH 32	DAR 23	CLT 30	DOV 12	POC 38	MCH 38	SON 6	NHA 32	DAY 38	CHI 18	IND 38	POC 40	GLN 4	MCH 25	BRI 19	CAL 20	RCH 31	NHA 17	DOV 39	KAN 20	TAL 25	CLT 34	MAR 14	ATL 40	TEX 43	PHO 17	HOM 17	25th	3329
2009			Chevy	DAY 14	CAL 11	LVS 31	ATL 27	BRI 9	MAR 12	TEX 7	PHO 24	TAL 20	RCH 10	DAR 20	CLT 8	DOV 30	POC 8	MCH 6	SON 6	NHA 12	DAY 9	CHI 10	IND 11	POC 2	GLN 6	MCH 19	BRI 25	ATL 3	RCH 19	NHA 3	DOV 4	KAN 4	CAL 3	CLT 35	MAR 3	TAL 19	TEX 37	PHO 8	HOM 38	8th	6252
2010				DAY 10	CAL 37	LVS 37	ATL 3	BRI 26	MAR 36	PHO 5	TEX 34	TAL 3	RCH 6	DAR 5	DOV 35	CLT 38	POC 8	MCH 13	SON 10	NHA 34	DAY 27	CHI 16	IND 32	POC 16	GLN 1	MCH 7	BRI 7	ATL 9	RCH 7	NHA 16	DOV 14	KAN 29	CAL 14	CLT 11	MAR 19	TAL 3	TEX 28	PHO 16	HOM 35	17th	4118
2011				DAY 6	PHO 19	LVS 3	BRI 24	CAL 10	MAR 4	TEX 13	TAL 30	RCH 29	DAR 23	DOV 32	CLT 12	KAN 17	POC 7	MCH 30	SON 22	DAY 9	KEN 15	NHA 30	IND 28	POC 32	GLN 7	MCH 25	BRI 19	ATL 15	RCH 15	CHI 14	NHA 9	DOV 22	KAN 23	CLT 14	TAL 23	MAR 22	TEX 18	PHO 15	HOM 31	21st	932
2012				DAY 36	PHO 11	LVS 25	BRI 8	CAL 17	MAR 21	TEX 16	KAN 12	RCH 12	TAL 32	DAR 24	CLT 20	DOV 28	POC 17	MCH 8	SON 34	KEN 14	DAY 28	NHA 25	IND 21	POC 20	GLN 33	MCH 26	BRI 13	ATL 21	RCH 20	CHI 23	NHA 22	DOV 26	TAL 38	CLT 19	KAN 16	MAR 20	TEX 34	PHO 12	HOM 28	22nd	810
2013				DAY 39	PHO 12	LVS 19	BRI 30	CAL 38	MAR 26	TEX 20	KAN 27	RCH 4	TAL 25	DAR 8	CLT 18	DOV 2	POC 14	MCH 20	SON 34	KEN 16	DAY 39	NHA 24	IND 9	POC 28	GLN 5	MCH 11	BRI 3	ATL 7	RCH 16	CHI 32	NHA 19	DOV 23	KAN 18	CLT 12	TAL 41	MAR 13	TEX 20	PHO 6	HOM 18	21st	894
2014	Kyle Larson			DAY 38	PHO 20	LVS 19	BRI 10	CAL 2	MAR 27	TEX 5	DAR 8	RCH 16	TAL 9	KAN 12	CLT 18	DOV 11	POC 5	MCH 8	SON 28	KEN 40	DAY 36	NHA 3	IND 7	POC 11	GLN 4	MCH 43	BRI 12	ATL 8	RCH 11	CHI 3	NHA 2	DOV 6	KAN 2	CLT 6	TAL 17	MAR 30	TEX 7	PHO 13	HOM 13	17th	1080
2015				DAY 34	ATL 26	LVS 8	PHO 10	CAL 26		TEX 25	BRI 7	RCH 12	TAL 42	KAN 15	CLT 25	DOV 3	POC 8	MCH 17	SON 15	DAY 39	KEN 35	NHA 31	IND 9	POC 12	GLN 12	MCH 13	BRI 41	DAR 10	RCH 12	CHI 7	NHA 17	DOV 9	CLT 21	KAN 29	TAL 24	MAR 19	TEX 37	PHO 21	HOM 5	19th	872
	Regan Smith								MAR 16
2016	Kyle Larson			DAY 7	ATL 26	LVS 34	PHO 12	CAL 39	MAR 3	TEX 14	BRI 35	RCH 15	TAL 29	KAN 35	DOV 2	CLT 13	POC 11	MCH 3	SON 12	DAY 6	KEN 19	NHA 17	IND 5	POC 6	GLN 29	BRI 24	MCH 1*	DAR 3	RCH 2	CHI 18	NHA 10	DOV 25	CLT 5	KAN 30	TAL 6	MAR 14	TEX 15	PHO 3	HOM 2*	9th	2288
2017				DAY 12	ATL 2	LVS 2	PHO 2	CAL 1*	MAR 17	TEX 2	BRI 6*	RCH 14	TAL 12	KAN 6	CLT 33	DOV 2*	POC 7	MCH 1*	SON 26	DAY 29	KEN 2	NHA 2	IND 28	POC 33	GLN 23	MCH 1	BRI 9	DAR 14*	RCH 1	CHI 5	NHA 2	DOV 5	CLT 10	TAL 13	KAN 39	MAR 37	TEX 37	PHO 40	HOM 3*	8th	2320
2018				DAY 19	ATL 9	LVS 3	PHO 18	CAL 2	MAR 16	TEX 36	BRI 2*	RCH 7	TAL 40	DOV 10	KAN 4*	CLT 7	POC 2	MCH 28	SON 14	CHI 2	DAY 29	KEN 9	NHA 12	POC 23	GLN 6	MCH 17	BRI 2	DAR 3*	IND 14	LVS 2	RCH 7	CLT 25*	DOV 12	TAL 11	KAN 3	MAR 37	TEX 5	PHO 3	HOM 13	9th	2299
2019				DAY 7	ATL 12*	LVS 12	PHO 6	CAL 12	MAR 18	TEX 39	BRI 19	RCH 37	TAL 24	DOV 3	KAN 8	CLT 33	POC 26	MCH 14	SON 10	CHI 2	DAY 20	KEN 4	NHA 33	POC 5	GLN 8	MCH 3	BRI 6	DAR 2	IND 33	LVS 8	RCH 6	CLT 13	DOV 1	TAL 39	KAN 14	MAR 9	TEX 12	PHO 4	HOM 40	6th	2339
2020				DAY 10	LVS 9	CAL 21	PHO 4																																	22nd	642
	Matt Kenseth							DAR 10	DAR 30	CLT 26	CLT 23	BRI 16	ATL 15	MAR 23	HOM 25	TAL 40	POC 11	POC 12	IND 2	KEN 25	TEX 18	KAN 17	NHA 37	MCH 17	MCH 15	DAY 26	DOV 23	DOV 15	DAY 28	DAR 14	RCH 16	BRI 14	LVS 18	TAL 16	CLT 34	KAN 40	TEX 39	MAR 14	PHO 25
2021	Ross Chastain			DAY 7	DAY 39	HOM 17	LVS 23	PHO 19	ATL 14	BRI 35	MAR 17	RCH 15	TAL 16	KAN 14	DAR 15	DOV 15	COA 4	CLT 37	SON 7	NSH 2	POC 33	POC 26	ROA 7	ATL 21	NHA 8	GLN 12	IND 29	MCH 35	DAY 18	DAR 3	RCH 7	BRI 14	LVS 23	TAL 33	CLT 23	TEX 28	KAN 13	MAR 27	PHO 14	20th	729

Additional cars

 

Aric Almirola's No. 8 car in 2009.

Part Time as the No. 46 (1997–1998)

The No. 46 car began as the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports car owned and driven by Joe Nemechek. After he signed with SABCO in 1996, Sabates became the majority owner of the team, which debuted at the 1997 Daytona 500 as the No. 46 First Union Chevrolet driven by Wally Dallenbach Jr.^[2] After skipping several races, the team moved to full-time racing. Dallenbach competed in 22 races and finished 41st in points. He only raced in four races in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series before he was replaced by a rotation of drivers including Jeff Green, Morgan Shepherd, and Tommy Kendall.

After First Union stopped their backing at the end of the season, the team was scheduled to close down,^[2] but instead it changed its number to No. 01 and served as the team's research and development car.

Part Time as the No. 04 (2001)

In 2001, The team fielded the No. 04 at Sears Point for Jason Leffler. He attempted to make the race while Dorsey Schroeder piloted Leffler's regular ride, the No. 01; Leffler did not qualify for the race.

Part Time as the No. 09 (2003)

CGR has occasionally run an additional part-time entry for research and development or for rookie drivers making their debut. The team debuted in 2003 at Sonoma Raceway as the No. 09 Target Dodge, run under the Phoenix Racing banner, with road course specialist Scott Pruett, finishing a lap down in 34th after an incident while running in the top ten.^[20][66]

Part Time as the No. 39 (2003–2006)

In the same year, Pruett would run for CGR itself at Watkins Glen as the No. 39. Pruett started 28th and finished 2nd.^[67] Pruett and the car reappeared in 2004 and 2005 at Sonoma, where Pruett finished 3rd and 31st, respectively. He also attempted Watkins Glen, but he failed to qualify both years. In 2005, former champion Bill Elliott drove the car in the Bud Shootout, due to his ride at Evernham Motorsports being unavailable. The car was sponsored by Coors, running a tribute scheme that Elliott had run in the past with the sponsor. Development driver David Stremme then drove seven races in preparation for his bid in 2006 for NASCAR Rookie of the Year, making his debut at Chicagoland Speedway in July.^[35][68] Stremme finished 16th in his debut.^[69] Reed Sorenson also drove at Atlanta with Discount Tire sponsorship in preparation for his full-time cup season in 2006.

In August 2005, CGR announced their plans to expand to four full-time teams, with Home123 moving up from the Busch Series to sponsor the new entry. Casey Mears, then the driver of the 41 car, was selected to drive the new entry, with Reed Sorenson moving into his old ride.^[70][71] Home123, then the "official mortgage company of NASCAR", was one of several mortgage companies that specialized in subprime loans to make a large investment in the sport during the peak of the U.S. housing bubble.^[72] By November, however, Home123 and Ganassi mutually ended their agreement, and Mears was tabbed to replace the departing Jamie McMurray in the No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge.^[73][74]

Part Time as the No. 30 (2007)

In preparation for running full-time in the No. 42 car in 2007, Formula One and Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya made his Cup debut at the 2006 season finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in a Texaco Havoline car numbered No. 30.^[40][75] Montoya qualified 29th and ran as high as 13th, but was involved in an incident with Ryan Newman on lap 254, leading Montoya's car to crash and erupt in flames. Montoya was credited with a 34th-place finish.^[40][76]

Aric Almirola and the No. 8 (2008)

After the DEI merger, Ganassi gained a set of owners' points from the former DEI No. 8 car, which had been driven by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola in 2008. (For more information about the No. 8 prior to the merger, including the time during which the car was driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., see Dale Earnhardt, Inc.). Although Ganassi did not have enough sponsorship to run three cars, and after Bobby Labonte turned down an offer to drive the car, Aric Almirola was tentatively signed to return to the No. 8 Chevrolet for the full 2009 season, pending sponsorship.^[9][21] The team was able to sign Guitar Hero for four races including the Daytona 500,^[21][77] and one-race deals with Cub Cadet,^[78] TomTom,^[79] and Champion Apparel.^[78] After seven races and while sitting 37th in owner points, Ganassi announced that the operations of the No. 8 team were being suspended indefinitely due to lack of sponsorship.^[12][14] Almirola later sued Ganassi for breach of contract, which he alleged promised a full-season ride,^[80] and the dispute was settled out of court.

Part Time as the No. 34 With Front Row Motorsports (2009)

In addition to the No. 8 car, for 2009 EGR formed an alliance with Front Row Motorsports's No. 34 car and driver John Andretti. FRM received the owner points of DEI's former No. 15 car, allowing the team to qualify for the first five races of the season. The teams also formed a technical alliance, with EGR crew chief Steve Lane moving to FRM and the No. 34 fielded as a fourth EGR entry in select races including the Daytona 500.^[21][81][82]

Xfinity Series

CGR/FS began running in the then-Busch Series as SABCO Racing in 1995, running the No. 42 Band-Aid-sponsored Pontiac in eight races with Bobby Hamilton and Dennis Setzer. SABCO returned to the series in 2000, fielding two full-time teams (numbered 81 and 82) and one part-time (numbered 42). The No. 42 BellSouth-sponsored Chevrolet was primarily driven by Kenny Irwin Jr., with Steadman Marlin running two races at Nashville and Memphis. The No. 42 had run 10 races with Irwin finishing in the Top 10 twice before he was killed in a practice accident at New Hampshire.^[52] Like Irwin's Cup team, the number was switched to 01, and Sterling Marlin became the new driver. He raced three races in the 01, finishing in the Top 10 twice. Blaise Alexander drove the No. 81 TracFone/WCW Chevy full-time in 2000, and had two top-tens and finished 25th in points, despite failing to qualify for the season-opening race. Dave Steele was hired by SABCO to drive the No. 82 Channellock-sponsored Chevy full-time, but after failing to qualify for three out of the first five races, he was released. Sterling Marlin won the next race at Bristol in the No. 82, while Jeff Fuller failed to qualify in his attempt in the car the following week at Texas. After Derek Gilcrest drove for a pair of races, Glenn Allen Jr. drove for the next five races, not finishing better than 29th. Jason White drove for two short track races, followed by Anthony Lazzaro at Watkins Glen, Andy Houston at Milwaukee, and Austin Cameron at Nazareth and Pikes Peak. Ted Musgrave then signed on for the next eight races, finishing eighth at Lowe's. Marty Houston finished the season in the No. 82, with a best finish of 14th. At the end of the 2000 season, SABCO's Busch equipment was sold to HighLine Performance Group (later FitzBradshaw Racing), owned by Sabates' son-in-law Armando Fitz.^[83][84]

The Busch Series program was restarted by CGR from 2004 to 2008, run primarily to develop drivers including Reed Sorenson, David Stremme, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Clauson. The team won eight races over the five year stretch, but shut down following CGR's merger with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.^[85][86] At the end of 2014, CGR acquired Steve Turner's interest in the Nationwide (now Xfinity) operations of Turner Scott Motorsports, which had fielded entries in the Nationwide Series, Truck Series, K&N Pro Series East and West, and ARCA Racing Series for Ganassi drivers Kyle Larson and Dylan Kwasniewski between late 2012 and 2014. Though Turner Scott was a two car Xfinity operation (at one point operating as many as five entries), the operation under Ganassi was reduced to a single-car entry running under Harry Scott's banner, HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi.^[85][87]

On January 4, 2019, Chip Ganassi Racing announced the closure of their Xfinity program due to lack of sponsorship. The shutdown was announced after the home of the CEO of DC Solar, the team's primary sponsor, was raided by the FBI on December 18, 2018.^[88][89][90]

Car No. 14 history

Main articles: Braun Motorsports and Trail Motorsport

 

David Stremme at Charlotte in 2005.

In 2003, CGR Cup driver Casey Mears drove 14 races in the No. 19 Dodge for Braun Racing sponsored by CGR partner Target, with Braun forming a technical alliance with Ganassi.^[91] For 2004, the alliance continued, with Braun fielding the No. 32 TrimSpa Dodge for Ganassi development driver David Stremme.^[91] Late in the season, Stremme left Braun to drive the No. 14 NAVY Chevrolet for FitzBradshaw Racing – formed from Felix Sabates' former Busch Series team in 2000 – replacing Casey Atwood. In a similar technical alliance with Ganassi, the team switched to Dodge to field Stremme for the full 2005 season.^[84][92] Stremme had five top 5s and 10 top 10s en route to a 13th-place finish, then moved up to the No. 40 Cup ride with Ganassi for 2006.

Car No. 40 history

As part of the alliance with FitzBradshaw Racing, in 2005 a new No. 40 car was fielded by Fitz as a Dodge team with Ganassi's veteran Cup driver Sterling Marlin as the primary driver. Cottman Transmission, Family Dollar and Jani-King served as primary sponsors.^[83][84][93] Marlin ran 18 races for the team with five Top 10s, then replaced Tim Fedewa in the team's No. 12 car at Gateway.^[94] Reed Sorenson moved over to the No. 40 at Atlanta when his No. 41 Ganassi car missed the race, finishing 19th.^[95] CGR development driver Scott Lagasse Jr. ran five races in the car, with a best finish of 22nd.^[83][96] Carlos Contreras, Paul Wolfe, and Erin Crocker also ran races in the 40 car.

 

Bryan Clauson racing Marcos Ambrose at Nashville in 2008.

For 2008, rookies Franchitti and Bryan Clauson shared the No. 40 car, along with Reed Sorenson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Kevin Hamlin, with sponsorship coming from Fastenal.^[97] Late in the season, with Franchitti departing from the sport, Clauson took over the car permanently.^[98] The drivers combined for three Top 5 finishes and five Top 10s, with a best finish of third at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with Pruett.^[97] Clauson finished second in Rookie of the Year standings to Landon Cassill.^[99] In December 2008, the newly formed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced that they had closed the No. 40 team down, due to a lack of sponsorship.^[85][100]

Car No. 41 history

Reed Sorenson (2004–2006)

 

Reed Sorenson at Daytona in 2006.

The 41 car began racing at the 2004 Kroger 200 when Reed Sorenson made his NASCAR debut with sponsorship from Discount Tire. He qualified third and finished 13th. For the rest of the season, Sorenson, Casey Mears, and Jamie McMurray ran limited schedules in the No. 41, with McMurray picking up a win at Phoenix. In 2005, Sorenson drove full-time, picking up two wins and finishing fourth in points. He drove most of the 2006 season, except the AT&T 250, where David Stremme finished eleventh in his place.

 

Sorenson in 2007.

Multiple drivers (2007–2008)

For 2007 Discount Tire left for Roush Fenway Racing and Wrigley's became the new sponsor. Brian Pattie was the team crew chief. Sorenson and Stremme shared the No. 41 for most of the season, with Sorenson winning at Gateway. Scott Pruett ran the road courses. At Montreal with 3 laps left, Pruett was running in third place when he got in contact with Kevin Harvick. Harvick responded by waving his hand in anger and spinning Pruett around in turn 1. Pruett's accident collected Ron Fellows, Jeff Burton, Ron Hornaday Jr., and several others. Pruett restarted in 10th place but his speed never returned; finishing him in 14th place. Later in the season, Bryan Clauson came on board with Memorex sponsorship then drove for five races with a best finish of eighteenth, before A. J. Allmendinger finished out the season in the No. 41. Bryan Clauson began the 2008 season in the No. 41 with Polaroid sponsorship, before Kyle Krisiloff drove for a few races. After the spring Talladega race, the 41 was shut down.

Car No. 42 history

In 1995, SABCO Racing, running the No. 42 Band-Aid-sponsored Pontiac in eight races with Bobby Hamilton and Dennis Setzer. SABCO returned to the series in 2000, fielding the No. 42 BellSouth-sponsored Chevrolet was primarily driven by Kenny Irwin Jr., with Steadman Marlin running two races at Nashville and Memphis. The No. 42 had run 10 races with Irwin finishing in the Top 10 twice before he was killed in a practice accident at New Hampshire.^[52]

Casey Mears (2006)

The car debuted under Ganassi in 2006 as the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline-sponsored Dodge. Casey Mears drove nine races and won his first career race at Chicagoland Speedway. Juan Pablo Montoya drove the last four races of the year, posting an 11th-place finish in his series debut at Memphis, and two top tens.^[40]

Multiple drivers (2007)

 

Dario Franchitti at Homestead in 2007.

For 2007, Ganassi announced that Montoya and Kevin Hamlin would split the driving duties.^[100] Montoya drove seventeen races the next season, and won his first race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and had three top-tens.^[101] Hamlin made seven starts, including two consecutive Top 10's at Gateway and IRP.^[100] After Michael Valiante drove at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and David Stremme at Bristol, it was announced the 42 team would shut down effective immediately, but that decision and was rescinded and A. J. Allmendinger was named driver for the next five races, though he failed to finish higher than 14th. Dario Franchitti finished out the year with Target sponsorship, qualifying in the Top 10 twice.^[101]

Smith-Ganassi Racing (2009)

With Ganassi switching to Chevrolet, the remnants of the No. 40 team were purchased by businessman Eddie Smith and professional boxer Evander Holyfield in February 2009 to form Smith-Ganassi Racing, later known as Team 42 Racing, renumbering the car once again to 42.^[102][103] The team ran part-time schedules over the next two years, primarily with Kenny Hendrick,^[102] David Gilliland, and Team Penske development driver Parker Kligerman.^[103] Ganassi driver Kevin Hamlin also ran a single 2009 race at Gateway.^[100]

At the 2009 Bristol spring race, EGR fielded a car for then-DEI development driver Trevor Bayne, leasing the No. 52 owner's points from Means Racing. The car was provided to Ganassi by then-partner Front Row Motorsports, with FRM sponsor Taco Bell appearing on the car. Bayne would finish 23rd in his series debut, later moving to Michael Waltrip Racing.^{[81][104][105][106]}

Multiple drivers (2013–2018)

 

Kwasniewski racing in the No. 42 at Road America in 2014

 

Justin Marks at Road America in 2016.

In 2013, Turner Scott Motorsports was contracted to field CGR development driver Kyle Larson in their No. 32 car, with Larson winning Rookie of the Year.^[107] In 2014, the car was renumbered to Ganassi's No. 42, with Larson and Dylan Kwasniewski sharing the ride, with Kwasniewski ran the majority of the season in TSM's No. 31 car.^[108] Larson scored his first win at Auto Club Speedway in March,^[109][110] and won again at Charlotte in May.

At the end of 2014, crew chief Scott Zipadelli was released from the team.^[111] In December 2014, it was announced that Chip Ganassi Racing would partner with TSM co-owner Harry Scott to bring the 42 car in-house under the name HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi. The 31 team was shut down due to logistical and funding issues.^[85][87] Larson returned for a part-time schedule.^[85] Larson's sponsors included Parker Hannifin, which sponsored him as an adolescent midget car racer,^[112] and returning sponsor ENEOS. Target, and its associated brands, also ran some races. On February 10, 2015, ARCA Racing Series race winner Brennan Poole was signed to contest a 15-race schedule – later expanded to 17 races – in the 42, sponsored by DC Solar Solutions. Poole replaced Kwasniewski, whose sponsor Rockstar Energy chose not to renew.^{[113][114][115]} In March after two races, it was confirmed that Kwasniewski would not drive for the team at all. This expanded Larson's schedule to around 14 races. Justin Marks, partner with Harry Scott in the K&N Series, ran the three road course events for the team.^[114][116] Poole finished 9th in his series debut at Las Vegas.^[115] He scored two top tens and ten top-15s during the season.^[117][118] Larson scored a win in the season finale at Homestead, after leading 118 laps and passing Austin Dillon with four laps to go.^[119]

Though the team was run in-house in 2015, the No. 42 was brought back under the Ganassi umbrella in full for 2016. Larson returned for 17 races, with the same sponsorship from Eneos and Parker.^[117] With Poole moving to a new No. 48 Ganassi entry, Marks expanded his schedule to take over all of the oval races not run by Larson, in addition to road courses. Marks, in the No. 42 Katerra-sponsored Chevrolet picked up the win in the 2016 Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in rainy conditions.

In 2017, Larson returned with the same sponsors and schedule (Eneos and Parker), winning two races. The team also added former Brad Keselowski Racing driver Tyler Reddick to drive on a part-time basis in 2017. Hendrick Motorsports development driver Alex Bowman also made two starts in the car. In addition to Larson's two wins, both young drivers also won a race in 2017. Reddick won at Kentucky with Broken Bow Records on the car, while Bowman was victorious at Charlotte with Hendrick and Vannoy Construction sponsorship.^[120]

In 2018, Larson returned once again for a part-time schedule. This time, series rookie John Hunter Nemechek ran the majority of the races in the 2018 season after Tyler Reddick left the team at the end of 2017 to go to JR Motorsports.^[121] Nemechek previously was running full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2017. Larson won in four of his six starts in the car, while Nemechek took his first Xfinity win at Kansas. Late in the season, JD Motorsports driver Ross Chastain joined the team for three races, winning at Las Vegas. McMurray and Marks also each made three starts in the car.

Chastain had been hired to drive the No. 42 full-time for 2019 at the time of the shutdown announcement, and remained "tied to us" according to a team statement; he would eventually drive Ganassi's #42 Cup Series car in 2021.^[122] MBM Motorsports purchased the Xfinity #42 owner points and some of the equipment before the 2019 season.

Car No. 48 history

Brennan Poole (2016–2017)

 

Brennan Poole at Road America in 2016.

For 2016, Brennan Poole, who drove a part-time schedule in Ganassi's No. 42 the previous season, moved into a new No. 48 car full-time with DC Solar sponsoring the full season.^[117][118] Chad Norris is the crew chief for the No. 48. Poole's best finish thus far has been a second-place finish at Kentucky. He also almost won the 2016 spring race in Talladega in which he passed two cars on the final lap, only to be told that he had in fact finished third after a yellow-flag came out on the final lap.

It was announced before the end of 2017 that Poole would not return in 2018, and after the season was over, CGR shut down the #48 team, focusing their Xfinity operation solely on the #42.^[123]

On June 18, 2018, it was announced that Poole would sue Chip Ganassi Racing and Spire Sports + Entertainment for breach of contract, alleging that CGR and Spire conspired to take away DC Solar's sponsorship from Poole and move it to the No. 42 CGR Cup Series team of Kyle Larson and that Spire's involvement representing both driver and team constituted a conflict of interest.^[124][125] Ganassi and Spire both released statements through attorneys denying the claims, with CGR's statement saying the sponsorship of Poole ended "because he never won a race despite the advantages of the best equipment in the garage."^[126][127] The dispute was later settled in the aftermath of DC Solar's FBI raid, though terms were not specified.

Partnerships

Richard Childress Racing

Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies^[128] was formed in May 2007 as a cooperation between Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Richard Childress Racing to develop and build common engines for the Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series teams campaigned by the two companies. The partnership was inherited by CGR following its merger with DEI. The company is now known as ECR Engines, no longer connected with DEI or CGR.^[11]

Hendrick Motorsports

Main article: Hendrick Motorsports

On November 2, 2012, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that it would get its engine supply from Hendrick Motorsports whilst retaining its Chevrolet stable.^[22]

Turner Scott Motorsports

Turner Scott Motorsports ran Ganassi development drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were Kyle Larson and Dylan Kwasniewski. Kwasniewski drove for TSM in the K&N Pro Series East before signing with Ganassi as a development driver. Ganassi would eventually assume complete control of the team's Xfinity program.

References

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13. Mejia, Diego (January 21, 2009). "Target to sponsor Montoya again". Autosport. Autosport. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
14. Pearce, Al (April 8, 2009). "NASCAR: Earnhardt Ganassi shuts down Almirola's team". Autoweek. Autoweek. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
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January 01, 1970