Ross Chastain getting new crew chief for 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season

Things are going to be changing for Ross Chastain next season. Trackhouse Racing is making a move at crew chief. Phil Surgen is on his way out after spending the last four years with Chastain. The pair has won six races together.

Despite winning races each season in the Next Gen era, Phil Surgen and Ross Chastain have left a lot on the table. There have been more weeks where the team has just simply missed on setups and speed than there have been weeks where they hit it just right.

Brandon McSwain will make the move to the 1 team next season, according to a report from Kelly Crandall of RACER. McSwain will move over from the No. 24 team of William Byron, where he serves as an engineer and interim crew chief at times.

The move to Trackhouse and Ross Chastain will act as the first full-time crew chief position for McSwain. Clearly, something had to be done, and a shakeup was needed. Phil Surgen has done a lot of great things, but Trackhouse and Chastain want to compete for championships, not just a win here and there.

I think that a lot of people a few years from now will look at those six wins that Chastain earned alongside Surgen and appreciate them even more. When you look at the rest of the body of work, outside of 2022, this team didn’t really have any business winning as many races as they did or competing for as many wins that they ended up losing out on.

Ross Chastain had no consistency in speed in 2025

While there is one race left, a race that Ross Chastain has won before, we can do our season recap for the 1 team. At least, we can do a general overview. Chastain is a driver who has a ton of talent. His work ethic is elite and among the best in the Cup Series by all accounts.

So, why isn’t Chastain competing for Championship 4s? Hell, why can’t he seem to make it out of the Round of 12 all of a sudden? Chastain has wins on a road course, a superspeedway, a “short track” in Phoenix, and of course, has won at intermediate tracks. He’s even a Crown Jewel winner with his Coca-Cola 600 this season.

Bringing Brandon McSwain over from Hendrick is a no-brainer. He is still relatively young for a crew chief in this sport. Trackhouse is putting togehter a duo that can learn and grow together while, hopefully, finding success on the track.