NASCAR: 5 possible Chip Ganassi Racing drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Possible Chip Ganassi Racing drivers: Matt Kenseth
If Chip Ganassi Racing do not deem any of these other drivers ready to hire quite yet for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and/or if none of them end up being available to sign, bringing back Matt Kenseth is not off the table.
Kenseth has walked away from NASCAR twice before, only to return to the sport after both exits. Nobody predicted that he would be back in 2020, and yet here he is after the unfortunate Kyle Larson situation.
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While it is clear that he isn’t competing at the level he was once capable of, which is pretty much to be expected out of a 48-year-old who hadn’t had a full-time ride in three years, he is still capable of working with the #42 team and providing veteran feedback that could be huge whenever they do end up hiring somebody else.
Plus, while he finished no higher than 10th place in his first 11 starts for the team, he did prove that he is still capable of running at the front once in a great while with his second place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he still has time to improve throughout the rest of the season, even if he is unable to win and clinch a playoff berth.
Keeping the same two veterans together for another year in 2021 with Kenseth and Kurt Busch rather than hiring somebody entirely new right away, given the tumultuous nature of the 2020 season, could have its advantages.
It is highly likely that they will try to retain Busch in 2022 given that he has said he wants to drive the Gen 7 car and its debut was pushed back from 2021 to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic, so having two veterans in contract years next year may not be too big of a concern for the team’s future either.
Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark. Next
Who will be behind the wheel of the #42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing when the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season rolls around, presumably alongside Kurt Busch behind the wheel of the #1 Chevrolet?