NASCAR Xfinity Series: What’s next for Chip Ganassi Racing and Ross Chastain?
By Mark Kristl
Chip Ganassi Racing closed their NASCAR Xfinity Series program. How does this news impact the team and their Xfinity Series driver, Ross Chastain?
Fresh off his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a 10th place finish in the Xfinity Series championship standings, Ross Chastain earned himself a 2019 Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing driving the #42 Chevrolet. With backing from DC Solar, Chastain appeared to be a threat to win the Xfinity Series title.
Unfortunately, Chip Ganassi Racing closed their Xfinity Series team last week and Chastain lost his ride as a result of it.
The reason for this decision is because of legal troubles for DC Solar. DC Solar agreed to sponsor Ross Chastain for the full 2019 Xfinity Series season.
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However, following an FBI raid on DC Solar headquarters and the home of DC Solar’s CEO, Jeff Carpoff, in late December, Chip Ganassi Racing were left without a sponsor for their Xfinity Series team.
Where does this leave Ross Chastain? How does this move impact Chip Ganassi Racing?
The people most affected by the team’s shutdown are the team’s Xfinity Series employees. Those people, including but not limited to the crew chief, pit crew and shop employees, have a little over a month to find another job.
The Xfinity Series definitely lost a top-notch entry. However, the series is not doomed. Tommy Joe Martins, a driver for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, who has been outspoken about the difference between teams in the NASCAR garage, tweeted this.
Define thin. I can promise you that @XfinityRacing won’t have short fields. New teams will show up or existing teams will expand. Thin as in less Cup teams/resources in a lower tier series? Hard for me to look at that as a bad thing. https://t.co/urWQ8Crv5G
— Tommy Joe Martins (@TommyJoeMartins) January 4, 2019
Two prime examples of race teams that will continue fielding entries in the Xfinity Series are B.J. McLeod Motorsports and JD Motorsports, Chastain’s former team. Teams such as these compete partly because they do not rely on one company to sponsor them for the entire season.
Granted, their budgets are smaller, and they wouldn’t mind a major company sponsoring them, but those teams soldier on. Ryan Sieg, whose team, RSS Racing, will field at least two entries this season in the Xfinity Series, tweeted this.
Not a coincidence that the teams that have survived (RSS, BJ McLeod, JDM) are the same teams that haven't pissed away money.
— Ryan Sieg Racing (@RyanSiegRacing) January 4, 2019
For Ross Chastain, he is still set to drive the #15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2019 season. While Premium Motorsports are not as stout as Chip Ganassi Racing, Chastain will still compete in NASCAR. He already has driven in 36 races for Premium Motorsports.
Last season, the #15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet entry finished 32nd in the owners point standings, so that is somewhat of an indication of the caliber of Chastain’s 2019 ride.
Regarding Ross Chastain’s future with Chip Ganassi Racing, he could still possibly eventually drive for the team. After the announcement of the closure of their Xfinity Series team, Chip Ganassi Racing informed Chris Knight about Ross Chastain’s job status.
@CGRTeams says in a statement that @RossChastain is free to to compete with another #NASCAR team, but "is still tied to us."
— Chris Knight (@Knighter01) January 4, 2019
When Chip Ganassi Racing announced Kurt Busch as the driver of #1 Chevrolet, Adam Stern reported this about Busch’s contract and the future of the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
No financial terms released by @CGRTeams, but @MonsterEnergy's spend said to be around $5M.
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) December 4, 2018
➖ Mitch Covington says no talks yet about sponsoring a @CGRIndyCar.
➖ The one-year deal sets up @RossChastain as a top candidate to take over in '20 if @KurtBusch retires from NASCAR. pic.twitter.com/8IPhs5ydDW
Essentially, the door remains open for Chastain to return to Chip Ganassi Racing as early as the 2020 season. However, at this point, that is pure speculation. To an extent, how well he performs in the 2019 season driving for Premium Motorsports may influence Chip Ganassi’s decision-making process.
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Ross Chastain is set to drive the #15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 17 with the Daytona 500. The race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by Fox.