Chip Ganassi Racing will not field a NASCAR Xfinity Series team in 2019.
The news comes three weeks after the FBI raided the offices of primary sponsor DC Solar and CEO Jeff Carpoff. The turn of events leaves journeyman blue-collar racer Ross Chastain, who signed a full-time agreement to drive the No. 42, without a ride for the upcoming season.
The company finds itself unsettled in the aftermath of the FBI seizing content from both the California offices of DC Solar and items from Carpoff's home.
The team was in a state of flux after the raid because it needed to confirm an engine lease agreement with Hendrick Motorsports before the start of the season. Unable to account for DC Solar sponsorship, which also extended partly to Kyle Larson's Cup Series program, team owner Chip Ganassi had no other choice but to close his team in the second-tier series.
"This was a difficult decision for me to make, and it comes with much anguish as this is a championship-caliber team, having won six races and finished second in the owners' championship — and more importantly because it affects a number of good people's livelihoods.
"Running a car without proper funding is difficult to do."
The No. 42 was split between a variety of drivers last season — Larson, Chastain, Justin Marks and John Hunter Nemechek. Chastain spent all but four races inside the midtier JD Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro, where he finished 10th in the championship standings.
Chastain has race-winning talent, as evidenced by his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September, in just his second start with the team. He left a guaranteed ride with JD Motorsports to race at Ganassi without a bringing a personal check. He does race full time in the Cup Series with low-tier Premium Motorsports, but Ganassi represented his opportunity to chase race victories and the season championship.
Nemechek signed with GMS Racing for the 2019 season.
The past two days has created a vacuum within the NASCAR Xfinity Series after Roush-Fenway Racing confirmed that it would also shutter its two-car program in 2019 due to a lack of funding.
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