Chad Johnston Removed as Crew Chief of the No. 42 Car, Phil Surgen Named Crew Chief For Remainder of 2020 Season
Chad Johnston will no longer be the crew chief of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro, as the team announced on Tuesday that team engineer Phil Surgen will take over the position for the remainder of the season.
Update regarding the No. 42. pic.twitter.com/rzf0kOq9cs
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) August 4, 2020
While no reason was given for the change, the No. 42 team has struggled mightily since returning from the COVID-19 shutdown.
Obviously, the team changed from Kyle Larson to Matt Kenseth as the driver of the car, but it seems Johnston was seen as expendable once the results weren’t consistent for Kenseth, who is still in play for a Playoff berth thanks to NASCAR’s waiver.
Johnston has seven wins in his 10-year career as a crew chief. Six of his seven victories have come since moving to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2016 from Stewart-Haas Racing.
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Toby is the Founder, Editor and go-to man for TobyChristie.com. He is also the co-host of The Final Lap Weekly Podcast. Additionally, Toby is a NMPA (National Motorsports Press Association) award winning writer, and has followed NASCAR as a fan since 1993.