MOORESVILLE, N.C. — There is a 235-foot stretch of pavement in front of Trackhouse Racing that served as a constant reminder to team in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.
It was the margin between Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. Logano won the race and Chastain finished third in the title race by just 235-feet.
The driver in second that day?
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney.
One year later, Chastain made up that distance on the race track, winning Sunday’s NASCAR Championship Race over Blaney.
Unfortunately for Trackhouse, Chastain was eliminated from advancing into the Round of Eight in the NASCAR Playoffs. A crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the Round of 12 created a deficit Chastain could not overcome and despite a fierce battle in the October 8 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chastain was going to see another driver win the Cup Series title.
But Chastain still had races to win.
He became the first driver in the current NASCAR Playoff format, which began in 2014, to win the season-finale without being the champion.
He also proved that in this format, the other drivers who aren’t in the Championship 4 have every right to race for the win as the four drivers battling for the season title.
Former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief and current NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte said the other drivers in the field are “racing in mittens” because of the expectation that he was supposed to move over for a Championship 4 car.
On November 5, Chastain took off the gloves and raced like a racer.
“I’m proud that we won,” Chastain said. “I watched practice back yesterday morning, Saturday morning. I heard Dale Earnhardt Jr. say, ‘Ross will be one, get up and race these guys.’
“I paused it.
“I’m like, ‘Would I do that? I don’t know. That seems kind of aggressive.’
“I clicked it. I didn’t really have an answer for myself. I asked myself would I race them. I was like, ‘I’ll race ’em.’ He (Earnhardt) was like, ‘He’s going to race ’em aggressive, he’s going to do it. If there is anybody that will do it, he’ll do it.’
“Then I got out there and I was like, ‘I’m doing it, I am racing them.’”
Chastain vowed he was not going to use his front bumper, or front fenders, or any part of the car when racing one of the four Championship 4 drivers.
He was going to race them hard, but also race them clean.
But he was going to “race ‘em.”
“I didn’t mean to fence Kyle Larson at Darlington (S.C.), but I did it,” Chastain said. “I was not going to do that. I was not going to drive into the corner.
Eventual champion Blaney was extremely agitated that Chastain did not yield his position to help him win the Cup Series title. He even drilled the rear of Chastain’s car in the final portion of the race to try to get him out of the way.
But in this format, the ultimate champion doesn’t have to win, and to a driver such as Chastain, heading into the offseason as the season’s last winner was just as important to Trackhouse Racing as the Cup Series championship was to Blaney and Team Penske.
“I know he’s mad and I don’t care,” Chastain said of Blaney. “I do not care. I did not care then; I do not care now.
“I’m here to race him.
“I’m not going to wreck him. I gave him the bottom most times. One time I was inside of him after he got by me. I crossed back over into (turn) three and I made sure to wrap the bottom. I’m not going to slide up and pinch him at all. It’s in my mind the entire time, for sure.”
Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet was the best car in the field during the race, leading a race-high six times for 157 laps.
Even when the final caution period meant one more restart in a battle to the checkered flag, it was Chastain that kept his cool and drove off into the sunset with the checkered flag.
“The caution came out and we made the right adjustment and were able to drive away,” Chastain explained. “It’s nothing other than wanting to win and hold track position.
“He (Blaney) could run second and win the championship. He did it last year. He can do it again.
“He ultimately did it.
“That last caution couldn’t come out at a better time. I was so thankful. Didn’t account for guys on two tires. Didn’t expect to be second row. Thought I would be front row no matter what.
“Not surprised by it because it’s him and he does that. These cars allow that. They allow inconsequential hits. But they also don’t affect the front car as much. I slid, but I was able to hold the lead.
“In my mind the whole time, proud of the precision driving we all did. The only contact was him just in a moment of anger throttling up in one to two and drive square up into my back bumper. Other than that, no contact.
“That’s what I’m here to do.”
Looking Back On A Tumultuous Season
Because of his spectacular 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season that saw him as one of the Championship 4 drivers, Chastain was expected to be in the fight for the championship this year.
He had a very fast start to the season, but by April and May, his aggressiveness was getting him in trouble with his other competitors.
The tipping point came at Darlington Raceway in the spring when a late-race battle for the lead on a restart ended up in a crash between Larson and Chastain, after Chastain squeezed Larson’s Chevrolet into the wall.
He appeared to lose his edge in May but regained it at the end of June with a victory at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. That victory qualified Chastain for the playoffs. He made it through the Round of 16 and into the Round of 12, but a crash at Talladega on the final lap of the First Stage sealed his doom for advancing out of that round.
Without the pressure of a championship, Chastain was able to clear his mind and become a “racer” again. He was outstanding in the last four races of the season, culminating with a victory in the last race of the season.
He also admitted that he did care about his battle with Blaney.
The last thing he wanted was to eliminate a driver from winning a championship.
“Maybe I said it wrong earlier,” Chastain said. “I do care. I care, arguably, out there more than anybody because I was not going to put him in a position to damage his car in any way, put his car in a bad spot, other than keep him behind me. As long as he’s behind me, that’s all I cared about.
“I believe that I cared arguably more than him. He didn’t have to pass me to win the championship. He could stay right there. There was no other competitor for points within any sight of me. It was the 19 (Martin Truex), the 12 (Blaney) and the 1 (Chastain), third, second, first.
“I would say I cared more than anybody as long as he was running second. He didn’t need to run first. He didn’t run first last year. His teammate won.
“Now he could run second again and win the championship.”
Chastain entered the season with high expectations, dealt tremendous adversity, and overcame in the end with an impressive victory.
“It’s indescribable,” Chastain said. “It’s honestly hard to put into words what this means, what winning in Cup feels like. I cannot describe it. I cannot describe the ripple effects this will have going into the off-season, preparing for next year.
“Justin Marks hired me, Trackhouse hired me. Justin knew who I was. I’ve wrecked Justin Marks in the Xfinity races before. Daniel Suarez has wrecked Justin Marks in the Xfinity Series races before. He knew who he was hiring when he put us behind the wheels of his two cars.
“Through all the stuff, he stayed with us. There was definitely public stuff that I wouldn’t have said, but he’s my boss and he gets to say it. He owns the team. I got to be the employee at that point. As an independent contractor, I have to listen to what he says if I want to drive the car,” Chastain continued.
“Y’all got to watch that. Y’all got to watch me learn through that process. Our sport is incredibly invasive for professional and personal things that people say if they say them publicly, which y’all will put a microphone in front of us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if we would allow it.
“It is so, so good to end this season with all the stuff, right?
“The best way I can describe it, just a lot of stuff. That’s Cup racing. I’m going to make mistakes. They knew that hiring me. Through the good days of winning and the bad days of crashing out going for wins, spinning people out, ultimately, they’re there for me.
“This is a great way to go enjoy the off-season.”