Matt Kenseth comes out of retirement for Chip Ganassi (2020)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
Why? Kyle Larson’s career with Chip Ganassi Racing came to a sudden end when he said a racial slur online. Needing a replacement, CGR turned to Matt Kenseth, who had run a partial schedule in a reunion with Jack Roush in 2018 before taking the entire 2019 season off.
How successful were they? Considering they’d signed Matt “off the couch”—and the sport was in uncharted waters thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic—the combo did pretty well, typically running in the top-twenty and posting a runner-up finish at Indianapolis. All together, the 42 car finished 22nd in points.
What was the aftermath? Matt Kenseth returned to retirement, while Ganassi put Ross Chastain in the 42 car, which has since become the #1 Trackhouse entry.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 9 robots out of 10—the whole Larson incident was stunning, and it was made even-stranger by replacing him with someone with zero attachment to the team, sponsor, or manufacturer…who wound up doing ok for himself.
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A MOXOC Media production