Chad Johnston Removed as Crew Chief of the No. 42 Car, Phil Surgen Named Crew Chief For Remainder of 2020 Season

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Matt Kenseth, driver of the #42 McDelivery Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, races to a 17th place finish Thursday, July 23, 2020 during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Drivers raced to empty Kansas Speedway spectator seats due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Harold Hinson/HHP for Chevy Racing)

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.

Toby Christie

Toby is the Founder of TobyChristie.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. Toby is also the co-host of The Final Lap Weekly Podcast. Additionally, he is an award-winning writer, and has followed the sport as a fan since 1993.