Part 2
4. A fresh start for Matt Kenseth and Chip Ganassi Racing

Darlington will be the first time Matt Kenseth has run a competitive lap in NASCAR in a year and a half. The 48-year-old former Cup Series champion last ran when doing a limited schedule with Roush in 2018.

Faced with a need to fill the No. 42 Chevrolet after the team’s sudden split with Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi made the best of a bad situation by landing himself a wily veteran. Kenseth brings experience and reliability to the team, and once he and crew chief Chad Johnston, along with the rest of the group, get on the same page and become familiar with each other, the easier results will come.

Both Ganassi cars were in the playoffs last season, and there is no reason Kenseth could not help them get back there. With Kenseth’s ability and the team showing they are capable of being top 10 contenders, it will be a matter of when the results come, not if.

There are more positives than negatives in this situation. It will be nice to see Kenseth back behind the wheel, given that he never seemed ready to leave, and for the Ganassi organization to come out of a lousy situation able to look forward.

Physically, Kenseth is in good shape, having kept his fitness up through biking and other training. So, although he hasn’t been in a car for an extended period, neither have his fellow competitors, and that puts the field on a somewhat level playing field when he’s trying to get the instinct to kick back in when going into Turn 1 on lap 1 this Sunday.

5. New challenges for teams and drivers

The racing expression “run what you brung” is rarely accurate nowadays. With inspection and multiple practice sessions, teams have plenty of opportunities to dial their cars in, adjust to changing conditions through a weekend, and have their car ready to take the green flag.

Teams will genuinely be running what they bring to the track at Darlington and Charlotte, given the elimination of all the usual early-weekend opportunities for car refinement leading into a race. Without the benefit of track time to get an idea of how the car is going to perform, there is going to be more emphasis placed on an organization’s engineers and simulation tools to build a car ready to race right off the hauler.
How different will pit stops be in NASCAR’s new normal? Image by Matthew Thacker/Motorsport Images

In turn, this will make for an interesting first phase of a race, with comers and goers as teams dial in their cars through multiple pit stops and feedback from the driver. Some will be close right from the green flag while others are going need to all the mileage they can get to make the car right.

Crew chiefs and drivers will have to be on their game when it comes to staying on top of track conditions, too. For the first Darlington race in particular, there will be no rubber laid down from practice, qualifying, or the previous day’s Xfinity Series race. Darlington and Charlotte have been sitting as idle as the drivers, and will need laps before getting worn in. These races are going to be ever-changing.

As such, NASCAR’s return is exciting, as are all these variables the sport and its teams are about to face.

Charlotte, Darlington,