Chad Johnston

Chad Johnston is an American NASCAR crew chief. He most recently served as the crew chief of the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series, driven by Kyle Larson and later Matt Kenseth.[1] Prior to joining CGR, Johnston crew chiefed the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart and the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr., and was Truex's engineer prior to becoming his crew chief midway through the 2011 season.

Chad Johnston
Personal information
Nationality American
BornCayuga, Indiana
ResidenceMooresville, North Carolina
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportNASCAR Cup Series
TeamChip Ganassi Racing

Career

After graduating college at Indiana State University in 2004, Johnston got a job as an engineer for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series. Over the following years, Johnston became the engineer for teams such as JTG Daugherty Racing and Evernham Motorsports.[2]

In 2011, while doing engineer work for Michael Waltrip Racing, Johnston became the crew chief for the No. 56 team, driven by Martin Truex Jr. Over the 19 races they were together, the pair got 1 pole, 2 top-5's, and 5 top-10's.

The following year, in 2012, Johnston became Truex's full-time crew chief. Truex Jr. and Johnston finished off the season with 1 pole, 19 top-10's, and 7 top-5's. They would finish 11th in the point standings after making the Chase.

In 2013, the pair returned to the No. 56 team. Midway through the season at Sonoma, the team won their first race. They would finish of the season with 1 win, 15 top-10's, 7 top-5's.

Johnston moved over to the No. 14 team for Stewart-Haas Racing, driven by Tony Stewart. However, midway through the season, Stewart decided not to drive for three races, being replaced by Regan Smith for the first of those races and Jeff Burton for the next two after being involved in the death of Kevin Ward Jr.[3][4] Stewart would return to the seat at Atlanta.

In 2015, Stewart and Johnston would pair up again. However, this season would prove to be a challenge for Stewart, as he would only be able to get 3 top-10's throughout the season, leading up to a 28th place finish in the points standings.

Johnston would again move teams in 2016, this time moving to the No. 42 team at Chip Ganassi Racing, driven by Kyle Larson.[5] At Michigan in the fall, Kyle Larson would get his first win in the Cup Series. The group would end up finishing the season with 1 win, 14 top-10's, and 9 top-5's leading up to a 9th place in the championship standings.

Larson and Johnston would start off the 2017 season with 5 top 2's, one of them being a win. Larson would win 3 more times throughout the season, finishing 8th in the championship standings after having a lack of consistency in the playoffs.

Johnston would remain as Larson's crew chief in 2018 and 2019. After a winless 2018 season, the two won at Dover International Speedway in the fall.[6] In 2020, Johnston would become the crew chief for Matt Kenseth after Kyle Larson was caught saying a racial slur during a streamed iRacing event.

Although he did score a second-place finish in the 2020 Brickyard 400 and a tenth place finish in his first race with the team at Darlington in May, Kenseth's return was largely a disappointment, and Johnston was released as the crew chief of the No. 42 on August 4 and replaced by the team's engineer since 2016, Phil Surgen, starting at the Michigan doubleheader. Surgen also substituted for Johnston in the crew chief role for one race in 2016, also coincidentally at Michigan, where he would lead Larson and the team to a third place finish in that race. Johnston had been suspended due to the lug nut rule.[1][7]

References
  1. "Phil Surgen takes over as crew chief for No. 42 team at Chip Ganassi Racing". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  2. "Chad Johnston, '03 | State Magazine | Indiana State University". statemagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  3. "Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick defend Tony Stewart, rip media". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  4. Gluck, Jeff. "Regan Smith subs for Tony Stewart, finishes 37th". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  5. "Johnston Named Crew Chief for Larson and the No 42 Target Chevrolet". www.chipganassiracing.com. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  6. Crandall, Kelly (October 7, 2019). "For NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, Dover was a timely win in more ways than one". USA Today. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  7. "Johnston latest on list of suspended crew chiefs". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. June 10, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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