Chip Ganassi Racing shuts down No. 42 Xfinity team in wake of FBI raid of DC Solar - Yahoo Sports

You will not see this car in the Xfinity Series in 2019. You won’t see the No. 16 car in the background of this picture in 2019 either. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Getty Images)

The Xfinity Series is losing cars at an alarming rate to start 2019.

Chip Ganassi Racing said Friday the team wouldn’t field an Xfinity Series car in 2019. The statement comes weeks after primary sponsor DC Solar was raided by the FBI.

“Due to a lack of sponsorship funding, we will cease operation of the No. 42 Xfinity team in 2019,” a team statement said. “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.”

Ross Chastain was set to drive the car in 2019 after he won at Las Vegas in a three-race stint with a team in 2018. The move to shut down the car presumably leaves Chastain without a ride. It’s an incredibly unfortunate situation for a potential rising star in NASCAR who was set to get his first real shot in top-tier equipment in 2019.

The news of Chip Ganassi Racing’s full-time departure from the Xfinity Series comes not long after Roush Fenway Racing president Steve Newmark said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that Roush wouldn’t be fielding an Xfinity Series team in 2019. The team ran the Nos. 16 and 60 cars in 2018 and the No. 16 car was fully-sponsored by Lilly. The company said it was leaving NASCAR and Roush did not find a replacement.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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