Chad Johnston
CREW CHIEF, NO. 41 FORD MUSTANG
Birth Date: May 22, 1980
Birth Place: Danville, Illinois
Home Town: Cayuga, Indiana
Residence: Mooresville, North Carolina
Spouse: Stacey
Children: Sydnee, Chase and Grayson
Bio:
As a crew chief, Chad Johnston has directed veteran drivers Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr., to NASCAR Cup Series victories along with such next-generation talent as Taylor Gray in the ARCA Menards Series. Another driver he ushered to victory lane – Ryan Preece in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Johnston’s collective resume, along with that Truck Series win he earned with Preece in June 2021 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, made him the perfect choice to pair with Preece at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Together, they’re chasing wins with the No. 41 Ford Mustang.
The 2023 season marks Johnston’s second stint at SHR. In 2014 and 2015, the Cayuga, Indiana-native served as crew chief for driver and team co-owner Tony Stewart. Johnston fit right into SHR’s culture then and the same is true in 2023. After all, he’s a racer, one who started as a 10-year-old in go-karts competing on dirt tracks in Indiana before moving to higher-horsepower midgets.
Johnston’s parents were supportive of their son’s racing ambitions, but they stressed the importance of education.
“Focusing on school was pretty easy because if I didn’t go to school, I didn’t race. That’s what my parents said, so it was pretty simple,” Johnston said.
“I enjoyed working on cars and I enjoyed machining. Had I not gone to school, that’s probably what I would’ve done. But my parents pushed me really hard to go to school so that I would have options in the future, and I ended up at Indiana State.”
Johnston attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute where he focused all of his attention on completing a degree in engineering. While his driving career ended, his racing career did not.
“Once I got into college, it was pretty obvious that it was getting too expensive to race,” Johnston said. “I knew I wanted to do something in engineering. I loved to race, but I also loved the cars. It was a pretty good opportunity for me to become a crew member of a race team.”
At Indiana State, Johnston delivered pizzas to pay the bills while working in the school’s machining lab. By his senior year, Johnston was working at Smith Aerospace as a manufacturing engineer, contributing to the development of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor, the world’s premier fifth-generation fighter jet.
Upon his 2003 graduation from Indiana State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Johnston moved to the hub of NASCAR – Charlotte, North Carolina.
He joined Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Truck Series in 2004 where he served as the race engineer for the No. 46 truck of driver Dennis Setzer. Wins were scored at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, along with eight top-fives and 16-top-10s en route to a second-place finish in the championship standings.
Johnston continued with Morgan-Dollar and the No. 46 team in 2005, but also assisted the outfit’s No. 47 truck, which ran 12 races with an all-star driver lineup that included Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Bobby Labonte.
Setzer’s No. 46 truck recorded wins at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, the Milwaukee Mile, Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and Indianapolis Raceway Park. Ten top-fives and 13 top-10s were earned as Setzer again finished second in the championship. The No. 47 truck, meanwhile, scored a win with Labonte at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, with the overall driver lineup grabbing five top-fives and eight top-10s.
Johnston made the move to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2006 with Evernham Motorsports and the No. 9 team with driver Kasey Kahne. As an engineer for Kahne, the No. 9 team won six races and six poles. Twelve top-fives and 19 top-10s qualified Kahne for his first NASCAR Playoffs appearance where he finished eighth in the final standings.
Johnston remained with Evernham Motorsports in 2007, but he moved to the No. 19 team of Elliott Sadler, scoring two top-fives and eight top-10s.
The 2008 season was one of transition for the Evernham organization as George Gillett purchased the team from owner Ray Evernham and formed Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. Johnston returned to Kahne and the No. 9 team, earning wins in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and in June at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Two poles, four top-fives and 14 top-10s augmented those victories.
In December 2008, Johnston made the move to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) where for the 2009 season he was employed by MWR but served as the race engineer for JTG-Daugherty’s No. 47 team driven by Marcos Ambrose. It was part of a technical alliance between the two organizations. Johnston helped Ambrose score a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and, while in Cup, he assisted Ambrose in earning four top-fives and seven top-10s.
Johnston transitioned back to MWR at the midpoint of the 2010 season to work as the race engineer for the No. 56 team and its driver, Truex. Working alongside veteran crew chief Pat Tryson, Johnston oversaw car setup while Tryson determined race strategy and managed team personnel.
Johnston started the 2011 season in the same position with the same arrangement, but after a slow start where the No. 56 team was 20th in points, MWR gave Johnston his big break and promoted him to crew chief for the remainder of 2011. The move paid immediate dividends as Johnston led the No. 56 team to top-10 finishes in two of his first three starts as crew chief and finished the season with one top-five and four top-10s in the final five races.
Johnston arrived at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for the start of the 2012 season in total control of the No. 56 team, and he picked up right where he left off in 2011. In the team’s first eight races, they scored a pole at Texas, earned four top-fives and six top-10s, and were ranked second in points. Johnston’s team was firing on all cylinders as the outfit earned MWR its first playoff berth. The No. 56 team finished the season with a pole, seven top-fives and 19 top-10s.
Johnston earned his first win as a crew chief when he guided Truex to victory lane in June 2013 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The No. 56 team finished 16th in the championship standings with seven top-fives and 15 top-10s.
In 95 races together, Johnston and Truex combined for a win, two poles, 17 top-fives and 43 top-10s.
“When I moved to North Carolina, my goal was to get into NASCAR and actually win a race in every series,” Johnston said. “I’ve won a race in each series, as a race engineer in the Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series, and as a crew chief in Cup. The crew chief is kind of the top of the ladder, and I knew that was where I wanted to end up.”
In December 2013, Johnston earned the opportunity that any racer-turned-engineer from Indiana would dream of – to become the crew chief for the Indiana-bred Stewart.
“Where I’m from, it’s a town of a thousand people. It’s farming and things like that. To think that you made it this far, and now you’re working with another guy that’s from Indiana who is one of the best, if not the best driver that has come along in a long time. It was a pretty huge opportunity for me,” Johnston said.
After working with Stewart for two seasons, Johnston was recruited by team owner Chip Ganassi in 2016 to be the crew chief for Larson. In five seasons with Ganassi, Johnston and Larson won six races together. Johnston returned to the Truck Series in 2021 with David Gilliland Racing, and it’s where he first worked with Preece.
Johnston resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Stacey, and their three children, Sydnee, Chase and Grayson.
Johnston’s collective resume, along with that Truck Series win he earned with Preece in June 2021 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, made him the perfect choice to pair with Preece at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Together, they’re chasing wins with the No. 41 Ford Mustang.
The 2023 season marks Johnston’s second stint at SHR. In 2014 and 2015, the Cayuga, Indiana-native served as crew chief for driver and team co-owner Tony Stewart. Johnston fit right into SHR’s culture then and the same is true in 2023. After all, he’s a racer, one who started as a 10-year-old in go-karts competing on dirt tracks in Indiana before moving to higher-horsepower midgets.
Johnston’s parents were supportive of their son’s racing ambitions, but they stressed the importance of education.
“Focusing on school was pretty easy because if I didn’t go to school, I didn’t race. That’s what my parents said, so it was pretty simple,” Johnston said.
“I enjoyed working on cars and I enjoyed machining. Had I not gone to school, that’s probably what I would’ve done. But my parents pushed me really hard to go to school so that I would have options in the future, and I ended up at Indiana State.”
Johnston attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute where he focused all of his attention on completing a degree in engineering. While his driving career ended, his racing career did not.
“Once I got into college, it was pretty obvious that it was getting too expensive to race,” Johnston said. “I knew I wanted to do something in engineering. I loved to race, but I also loved the cars. It was a pretty good opportunity for me to become a crew member of a race team.”
At Indiana State, Johnston delivered pizzas to pay the bills while working in the school’s machining lab. By his senior year, Johnston was working at Smith Aerospace as a manufacturing engineer, contributing to the development of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor, the world’s premier fifth-generation fighter jet.
Upon his 2003 graduation from Indiana State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Johnston moved to the hub of NASCAR – Charlotte, North Carolina.
He joined Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Truck Series in 2004 where he served as the race engineer for the No. 46 truck of driver Dennis Setzer. Wins were scored at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, along with eight top-fives and 16-top-10s en route to a second-place finish in the championship standings.
Johnston continued with Morgan-Dollar and the No. 46 team in 2005, but also assisted the outfit’s No. 47 truck, which ran 12 races with an all-star driver lineup that included Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Bobby Labonte.
Setzer’s No. 46 truck recorded wins at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, the Milwaukee Mile, Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and Indianapolis Raceway Park. Ten top-fives and 13 top-10s were earned as Setzer again finished second in the championship. The No. 47 truck, meanwhile, scored a win with Labonte at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, with the overall driver lineup grabbing five top-fives and eight top-10s.
Johnston made the move to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2006 with Evernham Motorsports and the No. 9 team with driver Kasey Kahne. As an engineer for Kahne, the No. 9 team won six races and six poles. Twelve top-fives and 19 top-10s qualified Kahne for his first NASCAR Playoffs appearance where he finished eighth in the final standings.
Johnston remained with Evernham Motorsports in 2007, but he moved to the No. 19 team of Elliott Sadler, scoring two top-fives and eight top-10s.
The 2008 season was one of transition for the Evernham organization as George Gillett purchased the team from owner Ray Evernham and formed Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. Johnston returned to Kahne and the No. 9 team, earning wins in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and in June at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Two poles, four top-fives and 14 top-10s augmented those victories.
In December 2008, Johnston made the move to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) where for the 2009 season he was employed by MWR but served as the race engineer for JTG-Daugherty’s No. 47 team driven by Marcos Ambrose. It was part of a technical alliance between the two organizations. Johnston helped Ambrose score a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and, while in Cup, he assisted Ambrose in earning four top-fives and seven top-10s.
Johnston transitioned back to MWR at the midpoint of the 2010 season to work as the race engineer for the No. 56 team and its driver, Truex. Working alongside veteran crew chief Pat Tryson, Johnston oversaw car setup while Tryson determined race strategy and managed team personnel.
Johnston started the 2011 season in the same position with the same arrangement, but after a slow start where the No. 56 team was 20th in points, MWR gave Johnston his big break and promoted him to crew chief for the remainder of 2011. The move paid immediate dividends as Johnston led the No. 56 team to top-10 finishes in two of his first three starts as crew chief and finished the season with one top-five and four top-10s in the final five races.
Johnston arrived at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for the start of the 2012 season in total control of the No. 56 team, and he picked up right where he left off in 2011. In the team’s first eight races, they scored a pole at Texas, earned four top-fives and six top-10s, and were ranked second in points. Johnston’s team was firing on all cylinders as the outfit earned MWR its first playoff berth. The No. 56 team finished the season with a pole, seven top-fives and 19 top-10s.
Johnston earned his first win as a crew chief when he guided Truex to victory lane in June 2013 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The No. 56 team finished 16th in the championship standings with seven top-fives and 15 top-10s.
In 95 races together, Johnston and Truex combined for a win, two poles, 17 top-fives and 43 top-10s.
“When I moved to North Carolina, my goal was to get into NASCAR and actually win a race in every series,” Johnston said. “I’ve won a race in each series, as a race engineer in the Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series, and as a crew chief in Cup. The crew chief is kind of the top of the ladder, and I knew that was where I wanted to end up.”
In December 2013, Johnston earned the opportunity that any racer-turned-engineer from Indiana would dream of – to become the crew chief for the Indiana-bred Stewart.
“Where I’m from, it’s a town of a thousand people. It’s farming and things like that. To think that you made it this far, and now you’re working with another guy that’s from Indiana who is one of the best, if not the best driver that has come along in a long time. It was a pretty huge opportunity for me,” Johnston said.
After working with Stewart for two seasons, Johnston was recruited by team owner Chip Ganassi in 2016 to be the crew chief for Larson. In five seasons with Ganassi, Johnston and Larson won six races together. Johnston returned to the Truck Series in 2021 with David Gilliland Racing, and it’s where he first worked with Preece.
Johnston resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Stacey, and their three children, Sydnee, Chase and Grayson.
