Chip Ganassi Racing hires new competition director

McArdle joins Ganassi following a two-year stint with Roush Fenway Racing. He will report to general manager Max Jones.

Although McArdle has spent the majority of the last two decades in NASCAR, his career began in open-wheel racing. As an engine specialist with Penske Racing and Ilmor Engineering, McArdle assisted the efforts of Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Danny Sullivan, Tom Sneva and Al Unser Jr. and contributed to three Indy 500 victories.

McArdle’s focus shifted to stock cars in 1999. He moved to North Carolina to help Cal Wells establish PPI Motorsports. In 2001, McArdle became GM at Yates Racing Engines. Two years later, he was recruited to run the engine program for Evernham Motorsports. During his six-year tenure, McArdle assisted the company through the transition to Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and then to Richard Petty Motorsports.

After four seasons with Denver, Colo.-based Furniture Row Racing, where McArdle coordinated the technical alliance between the No. 78 team and Richard Childress Racing, he returned to N.C. to be closer to home. He accepted the position of director of racing operations with RCR, where he remained until joining RFR.

Ganassi Racing currently fields two teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, as well as a full-time Xfinity Series team for Brennan Poole. In 2016, both McMurray and Larson qualified for the Chase. The accomplishment marked the first time two Ganassi cars qualified for the playoffs in the same season.