Ross Chastain has returned to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a win at Nashville Superspeedway, his first on a traditional oval track.
Chastain delivered a standout weekend for the Nashville-based NASCAR team. He started from pole – the first in Trackhouse Racing history – and then he led 99 total laps while battling runner-up Martin Truex Jr. and third-place finisher Denny Hamlin.
Chastain captured his third career win, snapped a 42-race winless streak, and smashed a watermelon at the start-finish line as part of his signature celebration.
The stat sheet only tells part of the story. Chastain did not have an easy path to victory despite starting at the front of the pack. He lost positions on the track and on pit road during the race, which kept him from winning either of the first two stages.
Chastain also had to navigate through lapped traffic while trying to chase down Truex during the final stage of the race. This task was made far more difficult by many other drivers doing everything they could to keep him behind them.
At one point, Chastain had to go three-wide in the middle of Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley just to avoid losing the lead to Truex.
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“Aric and his man upstairs in the spotter stand, they got it out for me,” Chastain said during the NBC Sports post-race show. “They’re open about it. And when we come up to lap them at Dover and here, they’re going to run me all over the track.
“So I took a risky move – I felt it was very high-risk – but it was worth the reward to get that clean air.”
The move paid off for the Florida native. He got the #1 Chevrolet back in clean air, and he continued to lead all the way to the checkered flag. He capped off a historic weekend for Trackhouse Racing while Project91 guest driver/three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen saw exactly what this team is capable of accomplishing.
Chastain has been consistently strong at Nashville Superspeedway, which makes the concrete Tennessee track a fitting place for his return to Victory Lane. He has made three Cup Series starts, and he has never finished outside of the top five.
Chastain, who drove for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, ended the inaugural Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway second behind Kyle Larson. He then returned to the track in 2022 with Trackhouse Racing and finished fifth.
The 2023 race was Chastain’s best as he started from the pole and led the second-most laps of his career. He then chased down a Cup Series champion, passed him cleanly, and delivered a statement win.
“To go up against my heroes like that, to beat [Truex] tonight, drive by him and the 11, was definitely a statement,” Chastain said after the race. “It felt good. I’m proud that we were able to do that.”
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