Does the suspension of a crew chief impact the driver's chances of winning a race?

May be...

Thats the common belief, because you are taking away a driver's 'confidante' so to speak while racing.
Recently however drivers who have had suspended crew chiefs have gone on to win.
Probably the most famous of this type of scenario was Darian Grubb winning the 2006 Daytona 500 as a interim crew cheif after Chad Knaus was suspended. They went on to win Las Vegas that year as well. Then Matt Kenseth's crew chief was suspended but he and his interim won at California (I believe this was in 2007).
Though I believe those wins had more to do with the depths of the teams than anything.

If you drive for Hendrick Motorsports it doesnt make a difference, they have tons of engineers, mechanics and the know how to win even if you are without your crew chief.(ex Jimmie Johnson numerous of time when Chad was suspended and the same for Jeff) Everyone else is just SOL.

If the team is organized there should be little disruption.The crew hief calls the shots but if the team has a good 2nd man then this should not cause any breackdown in communications or chances in winning.

Yes--due to communication--The fill in crew chief doesnt know exactly how to Interpret the drivers meaning of how the car is handling as well as the regular crew Chief.--The fill in wont make the same snap decisions on this on Pit Stops.--The fill in doesnt have the same experience on making calls-2 tires or 4 ect!!!!!!!

No, it not an giant impace, a driver can still win.

It may have a slight impact, but its still up to the driver to get the job done to win. Johnson won without Knaus in 2006 and Kenseth won without Reiser in 2007. As long as the driver has a solid team it should not affect them as much as it would seem.

i do not believe so, jimmie johnson, & matt kenseth both have won during their crew chiefs suspension. the pit crew, the spotter and the driver are still working together, it's just a bit different talking to another guy on the radio...the team is still as well as ever, i believe.

It may have and effect on the driver because they have a fill in crew chief but winning the race is a team effort, not just that of the crew chief.

If so, how?

For the correct answer read Smokey and Tall Man's posts above. I'd be stealing from them trying to state it better!

some say it can, but as shown last season not necessarily, communication is the key and they cannot stop that...the teams know what has to be done and they can function without the regular crew chief as proven before