Kenseth Comes Out of Retirement to Drive for Chip Ganassi Racing
The NASCAR season looks to be heading in the right direction to getting back on the track with plenty of turning and burning on the horizon. With that said, there was one major hole that was glaring on a prominent team. Kyle Larson was fired from his ride in the 42 car for Chip Ganassi Racing after his use of a racial slur during the stream of an iRacing event earlier this month. The demise of Larson was quick as he was fired and suspended by NASCAR within 48 hours after the incident, leaving Ganassi scrambling for a new driver or the concept of shuttering that team for the rest of the season.
On Monday, Ganassi Racing made the announcement that they had found a new wheelman for the 42 car and it’s a familiar face to those who follow NASCAR. Matt Kenseth, who was in retirement since the end of the 2018 season, is coming back out of retirement to drive the 42 car for the rest of this season. It’s a sound move for Chip Ganassi Racing, as they bring in a proven commodity of a driver that lends immediate credibility to the team. The move also should restore the sponsors that were ready to pull their support if Larson was still driving while keeping Ross Chastain, the top development driver for Ganassi, active in his pursuit for the Xfinity Series title.
Kenseth is an experienced driver with the ability to keep the 42 car relevant this season and his veteran leadership is important for this wacky season, which, like every other sport, has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was the NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 2000, won the final Winston Cup title in 2003 before the system changed, and claimed the IROC title in 2004. Kenseth won two Daytona 500 championships, taking the checkered flag in 2009 and 2012. His first career NASCAR victory came in 2000 at the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In his career, Kenseth won 39 races, recorded 20 poles and finished in the top-10 in 328 of his 665 races.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Ganassi made it clear as to why he chose Kenseth to take over the ride for the rest of the season:
"I think Matt gives us the best chance to win, run up front and compete for wins. I've always gone with the mantra of trying to take the best driver available, and he's the best driver available right now. And he brings something to our sponsors that they need right now. Stability. No baggage. Family man. Daytona 500 winner. Championship winner."
To put it bluntly, Kenseth was about as fundamentally polar opposite to what Larson projected when he was fired. While the potential for a second chance and a redemption of sorts remains possible for Larson, there’s no doubt that he affected his own future and bottom line with his poor decision making. Kenseth gets another chance to prove that he’s a capable driver that can contend for a championship. He was the runner-up for the title in 2013 and would love to be in the mix again.
In theory, it’s a sound move for Ganassi as he brings in a proven commodity to help right the ship for the rest of the season. It’s a short-term investment, one that both sides are aware of going in, and it doesn’t upset the development of Chastain this season. That way, in 2021, should the team decide that Chastain is ready to step up to the NASCAR Cup Series, there won’t be a major hassle with finding him a ride. He’d simply step in and take over the 42 team and carry on where Kenseth left off. The decision takes all the heat off from the fallout of the Larson incident and gets the team ready to go when cars return to the track. In the end, that’s what matters the most about all of this.