Chad Johnston Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It has taken some time for Matt Kenseth to shake the rust off in his return to NASCAR Cup Series competition, but Sunday at Indianapolis, he certainly looked like the driver of old, bringing home a second-place finish – his best showing of the season. Replacing Kyle Larson behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kenseth was able to come out of the gate with a top-10 at Darlington in mid-May, but in the races since, had struggled to even crack theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway has multiple storylines and one of them is the return of 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, who’ll start his tenure at Chip Ganassi Racing by piloting the No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the rest of the 2020 season. The ride offer was well publicized after owner Chip Ganassi fired Kyle Larson due to using a racial slur on a Twitch stream last month. Since then, Kenseth is focused on being smartRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Battling a loose racecar and avoiding the late-race mayhem allowed Kyle Larson to fly under the radar at Dover International Speedway. While many on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid finished up front in the Gander Outdoors 400, Larson quietly finished the race in 12th. Larson finished outside the top-10 after struggling throughout the race in his No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. He avoided a late-race melee that involved fellow Playoff Grid drivers Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex,Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the second week in a row, Kyle Larson will start last in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Despite having the fastest time in qualifying for the Overton’s 301, Larson’s No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS failed post-qualifying technical inspection due to an illegal rear deck fin. As a result, NASCAR officials disallowed his 28.568 second lap at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The penalty hands the pole position to Martin Truex, Jr., who coincidentally gained the points lead after Larson’s second place finish atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Kyle Larson left Kentucky Speedway last Saturday night with a runner-up finish and the points lead in hand, but on Wednesday afternoon, a penalty from NASCAR wiped all of that away as his team was hammered for a Level 1 violation found in post-race inspection at the NASCAR R&D Center. Larson failed to make a qualifying run for last weekend’s race, causing him to have to start the race from the back of the pack, but he was able to rebound all the way upRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 24 Years in Cup: 3 Career Wins: 1 Biggest Accomplishment: Cup win at Michigan (2016) Expectations are a hard thing to live up to sometimes. That was the case for Kyle Larson over the first two years of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. Although the California native showed flashes of living up to the hype heRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The opening round of the 2016 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup wraps up this Sunday. Heading into the weekend, first-time Chase competitor Kyle Larson finds himself in the final transfer spot for the Round of 12, and he is clinging to a slim five point advantage over his teammate Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon. Despite the narrow margin, I fully expect Larson to easily move into the Round of 12 after 400 miles of racing this Sunday. The reason why? Dover International Speedway is the place whereRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor I think it’s safe to say that Kyle Larson is primed for a great run in this year’s Chase. One week ago in Michigan, Larson captured his first-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in his 99th start. Fast forward to Labor Day weekend, Larson, who led 45 laps on the night, was in the thick of the hunt for the win again at Darlington Raceway in the prestigious Bojangle’s Southern 500. Larson rolled off the grid from the 16th-starting position, after the field was setRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Following a third-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, we learned that Kyle Larson’s car failed post race laser inspection. As a result we knew there would be punishments, Wednesday we learned as to what extent the team would be punished as NASCAR sent out it’s penalty report. The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team received a P3 penalty in Michigan post-race inspection. As a result, driver Kyle Larson and team owner Chip Ganassi have each been docked 15 championship pointsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Kyle Larson, who was without his full-time crew chief Chad Johnston this week, because of a lug nut violation at Pocono Raceway has failed post-race inspection following the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Larson came home with an impressive third-place finish, but according to NASCAR his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, prepared this week by interim crew chief Philip Surgen, fell outside of the tolerance on the laser scanner following the event. A NASCAR Spokesperson states that any penalties stemming from this violation willRead More