Trackhouse Racing confirmed that Brandon McSwain will be the new crew chief for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet, thus the departure of Phil Surgen, who has been together for five seasons.
Welcome to The House, Brandon McSwain!
He’ll lead @RossChastain‘s No. 1 team in 2026.
Happy to share 6-time race winning crew chief Phil Surgen will move to a new role within the organization. pic.twitter.com/30HLK9s10I
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) November 3, 2025
McSwain joins from Hendrick Motorsports, where he worked as a race engineer on William Byron’s No. 24 team. The change marks a major leadership shift for Trackhouse, which finished 10th in the 2025 Cup standings, and reflects the team’s push to return to championship contention in 2026.
A New Technical Leader
Brandon McSwain possesses thorough technical knowledge, which he effectively applies in his new position. Since 2019, he has been at the disposal of William Byron’s Cup team at Hendrick Motorsports and has been a vital contributor in winning several races and making the playoffs. At the August 2025 event in Daytona International Speedway, McSwain acted as the temporary crew chief for Byron when Fugle was ejected post-race inspection.
According to Kelly Crandall of RACER.com, “McSwain led Byron in the Xfinity Series during the 2017 championship with JR Motorsports, and in 2024, he was handling several Cup races for Hendrick.”
His extensive experience in all areas, from data to car setup to strategy during the race, provides him with the means to lead Chastain to success and to make Trackhouse a regular contender in the Next Gen era.
Trackhouse Racing and Phil Surgen’s Legacy
Phil Surgen was the crew chief, and Chastain’s the driver. They won the NASCAR Cup Series six times together from 2021 to 2025, with one of the most notable victories being the Coca-Cola 600 of 2025, and in 2022, they qualified for the Championship 4.
Even though he is going to be the crew chief no more, Surgen is not quitting the company; instead, he will be a part of Trackhouse in a new competition development role, primarily implementing strategies for team performance improvement in other departments.
NEWS: Brandon McSwain will join @TeamTrackhouse to serve as crew chief of @RossChastain and the No. 1 Chevrolet in 2026.
Phil Surgen will move into a new role within the Trackhouse Racing organization.#NASCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) November 3, 2025
Strategic Evolution
This rearrangement in the upper echelons of power is a clear indication of the rapid evolution of NASCAR teams in terms of competitiveness. It lets the public know of the intentions Trackhouse holds to improve its operations technically and strategize better during races by recruiting McSwain from the Hendrick Motorsports team, which is very successful in the sport.
Also, his mastery of state-of-the-art engineering tools and in-race analytics is likely to make pit work and car tuning both very critical aspects in a playoff-driven format of races, and thus contribute to better performances.
Once Chastain is working with McSwain, he will be able to harness the technical talents of the latter, and with his daring driving skills and extensive knowledge of the sport, he will surely manage to forge consistency out of the uneven 2025 season we have seen.
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