41 Ganassi team was planned to continue, but was ultimately shut down when driver Reed Sorenson left for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and when sponsor Target was moved to the No.
Leffler failed to qualify for four races, and was replaced with Trans-Am Series driver Dorsey Schroeder at Sonoma and Scott Pruett at Watkins Glen.
Truex was replaced by Jamie McMurray, who had previously driven for the Ganassi organization from 2002 until 2005, winning his first Cup race with the team as a substitute driver.
McMurray returned to the winner's circle by winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, the first time that he had won multiple races in a season since joining the Cup Series full-time in 2003.
The team also gained a 10 race sponsorship from the Textron Company, with brands Cessna, Bell Helicopter, Bad Boy Buggies, and E-Z-Go adorning the car.
Both McMurray and teammate Kyle Larson would rebound after missing the playoff, with the 1 car scoring a pole and four top-fives in the final ten races of the year.
[26] McMurray started 2015 on a high note, climbing to 8th in the standings within the first ten races and making the Chase for the first time in his career, but ended up being eliminated in the first round on a tiebreaker.
McMurray would once again be eliminated from championship contention in the first round of the Chase in 2016, following an engine failure at Dover, he finished 13th in points for the 2nd year in a row.
[27] On December 4, 2018, it was announced that former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion Kurt Busch, along with sponsor Monster Energy, would move to the No.
However, Busch was eliminated from the playoffs following the conclusion of the Round of 16 at Bristol, which also ended Ganassi's final chance at a Cup championship as an owner.
[20] The high point of the season was at the Food City 500 at Bristol in the spring, when Spencer and fierce rival Kurt Busch engaged in a heated battle at the end of the race.
Busch Series driver Casey Mears was hired to drive the car, joining fellow rookie teammate Jamie McMurray.
After losing his brother John in a crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway (and missing Darlington to attend his funeral, during which he was replaced by Phil Parsons), Nemechek won two pole positions and finished 28th in points, followed up by a then-career best 26th in 1998.
[40] In July 2006, it was announced that former Indianapolis 500 winner, CART Champion, and at-that-time Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya would replace Mears in the No.
[40] Texaco returned to sponsor the car, with additional funding from Wrigley gum brands Big Red and Juicy Fruit.
Later at the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Montoya had a great run and looked like he was going to fight Kurt Busch for the lead but crashed in an incident with Brad Keselowski near the end of the race and finished in 22nd.
In 2013, after Ganassi switched to Hendrick Motorsports engines, Montoya nearly won at Dover, but was passed in the final laps by Tony Stewart, and finished second.
However, an engine failure at Kansas resulted in him being eliminated at the Round of 12 of the Playoffs, the first of four straight DNFs for Larson, relegating him to an eighth-place finish in points.
Larson had a dominant car at the Inaugural Charlotte Roval race but was caught in a multi-car pileup in a late restart that also involved Playoff contenders Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
42 car took advantage of Jeffrey Earnhardt being spun out by Daniel Hemric on the final lap and limped across the finish line in 25th place, securing him in the top 12.
He finished 11th in the race but was docked 10 driver and 10 owner points after the team violated the damaged vehicle policy by using metal tabs instead of fasteners and/or tape to repair the torn right front fender.
Development driver David Stremme then drove seven races in preparation for his bid in 2006 for NASCAR Rookie of the Year, making his debut at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
[9][21] The team was able to sign Guitar Hero for four races including the Daytona 500,[21][77] and one-race deals with Cub Cadet,[78] TomTom,[79] and Champion Apparel.
Jason White drove for two short track races, followed by Anthony Lazzaro at Watkins Glen, Andy Houston at Milwaukee, and Austin Cameron at Nazareth and Pikes Peak.
At the end of the 2000 season, SABCO's Busch equipment was sold to HighLine Performance Group (later FitzBradshaw Racing), owned by Sabates' son-in-law Armando Fitz.
[83][84] The Busch Series program was restarted by CGR from 2004 to 2008, run primarily to develop drivers including Reed Sorenson, David Stremme, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Clauson.
[100] After Michael Valiante drove at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and David Stremme at Bristol, it was announced the 42 team would shut down effective immediately, but that decision and was rescinded and A. J. Allmendinger was named driver for the next five races, though he failed to finish higher than 14th.
Reddick won at Kentucky with Broken Bow Records on the car, while Bowman was victorious at Charlotte with Hendrick and Vannoy Construction sponsorship.
This time, series rookie John Hunter Nemechek ran the majority of the races in the 2018 season after Tyler Reddick left the team at the end of 2017 to go to JR Motorsports.
42 full-time for 2019 at the time of the shutdown announcement, and remained "tied to us" according to a team statement; he would eventually drive Ganassi's #42 Cup Series car in 2021.