Commentary

NASCAR Cup Darlington

Ganassi's recent speed could make them a Chase spoiler

Chip Ganassi Racing has flipped the switch at just the right time.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Sep 6, 2016, 10:44 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray

Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Race winner Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Although the organization has suffered from being at the bottom of Chevy’s Sprint Cup pecking order in the past, the two-car team has the potential for a surprise attack in the Chase.

Currently, Kyle Larson is locked into the playoffs following his first career win at Michigan. Despite failing the LIS (laser inspection station) following Sunday’s Southern 500, the victory guarantees the No. 42 team will be Chasing at Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks.

And with a podium finish at Darlington Speedway on Sunday night, Larson’s confidence is on the rise.

“It was good to be a contender two weeks in a row,” said Larson, who led 45 laps before finishing third. “I thought maybe there was some things that could have gone our way to maybe get the win, but we'll still take a third, build on our momentum leading up to the Chase, and hopefully have a good first round of that.”

McMurray on the bubble

Jamie McMurray had three eighth-place finishes leading into Darlington but remains vulnerable in the final Chase-eligible position. Although the No. 1 Chevy was solidly in the top 10 in the closing stages of the race, he ended up 15th (due to a loose lug nut) and failed to pick up ground on the two Richard Childress Racing drivers — Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman.

McMurray, 40, is sandwiched in the Chase grid between Dillon and Newman, who are also winless this season. While none of these three competitors was in the same universe with their fellow Chevy driver Kevin Harvick, who led 214 of 367 laps and likely would have spent more time up front if not for losing 17 positions in the pits, Newman cashed in on a top 10 — before failing the LIS in post-race inspection. Dillon finished 12th, but is currently nine points ahead of McMurray in the standings. Newman, who trails McMurray by just seven points, could see his deficit rise once NASCAR levies penalties later this week.

Certainly, any sanction for Newman and the No. 31 team would prove beneficial for McMurray. The No. 1 Chevy crew has just one top-five finish this season and has not led a lap. Larson’s victory at Michigan served as a reminder that it had been 99 races since Ganassi’s last win with McMurray at Talladega in the fall of 2013. That number just rose to 100, as far as McMurray is concerned.

McMurray finished fourth in three of his last six starts at Richmond — which showed a positive trend, considering he had not enjoyed a top-five at the .75-mile track prior to 2013. McMurray’s 24-year-old teammate Larson, has not contended is six races at Richmond yet or posted a top 10 finish. However, in five starts, Larson has completed every lap and has not finished worse than 16th. His average qualifying effort is 9.4.

Larson's postseason chances

Although Larson has never competed in the Chase, his average finish in the 2014 playoffs during his rookie year was 9.9 — better than the 12 of the drivers that finished ahead of him. His best possible result in the standings was 17th, where he finished.

“My confidence is really high,” Larson said. “Those Chase tracks are really good for me. I enjoy going to most all of them. There’s a couple in there that I’m not great at, but most of the tracks are 1.5-miles and worn-out surfaces that I really like.

“I’m excited about it and am glad to be in the Chase for once, and then go for a championship.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Likely NASCAR penalty could derail Newman's Chase chances

Next article NASCAR penalizes Newman, putting his Chase chances in doubt

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 16 min

Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”

Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Indonesian GP

1 h

Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in

"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future

DTM

DTM DTM 1 h

"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts