Ganassi Racing 2014 Review
By Richard Tix
2014 Season Stats
Wins: 0
Top 5: 15
Top 10: 30
Pole: 3
In 2013 Ganassi parted ways with Juan Pablo Montoya and turned to rising young gun Kyle Larson. Larson didn't have much NASCAR top tier experience but was trusted to take over for the #42 team. That left Jamie McMurray as the lone veteran coming back to Ganassi in 2014. I thought going into the season Kyle would be up and down as most knew he had talent, but he was also raw. So, my thought's were about the same for the Ganassi team in 2014.
I wasn't sure what to expect as J Mac has bounced around most of his career and Kyle is a rising young gun. By the end of the season Larson was trying to lock in one of the last spots in the Chase and Jamie wasn't too far behind. However, neither one found the win they needed to assure there spot which left both drivers just short (17th and 18th in points).
All in all 2014 was a success at Chip Ganassi Racing in my opinion. Kyle Larson had an exciting season which accumulated in the Rookie of the Year Awards and Jamie McMurray was competitive week to week. It's hard to look back between this season and last because the driver stable changed so much, but for a rebuilding team (something you don't hear used much in NASCAR) they took strides in the right direction.
- McMurray had 7 career wins in his 12 seasons as a full time Cup driver, but in 2014 when it would have locked him into the Chase he couldn't get it done. That's the bad news, the good news is he had more top 10 finishes then he has had since his 2004 (13). He finished the seaosn with 0 wins, 7 top 5's, 13 top 10's, and 2 poles while finished 18th in points.
- Larson's rookie season ended up with him finishing one spot shy of the Chase field (17th). Not a bad rookie campaign. His 2014 season will be a big stepping stone for him going forward. The next step for him will be locking in a Chase spot in 2015 and also getting his first Cup win. In 2014 he ended the season with 0 wins, 8 top 5's, 17 top 10's, and 1 pole. All of these stats lead the Ganassi team in 2014 except for poles.
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