HAMPTON, Ga.: The strong start to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season for Trackhouse Racing continued Sunday afternoon at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway with two top-five finishes by drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.
The superb performances from the Justin Marks and Pitbull-owned teams though didn’t come without adversity and anxiety.
Continuing to showcase his pace from last Sunday’s race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway, Ross Chastain kept his No. 1 Advent Health Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE locked inside the top-five for most of Stage 1 and even took control of the race on Lap 70 and continued to lead through Lap 94 when his right rear tire blew and sent him into the wall after leading 25 laps.
Chastain suffered damage in the incident but because of brilliant work by his Trackhouse team, he was able to return to competition despite being slapped with a two-lap penalty for violating damaged vehicle policy repair procedures during the caution.
It took until Stage 3 for Chastain to find himself back in a competitive position to challenge for his third straight top-10 finish but as the laps dwindled down — Chastain methodically made his march and found himself again in a position to win his first Cup Series race when the white flag was waving.
Tucked in third coming out of Turn 4, Chastain used the momentum to make the move on then second-place runner Bubba Wallace at the start | finish line, by the exit of Turns 1 and 2, Chastain was on the heels of race leader William Byron when he had to shift into defense mode from the pack behind led by Christopher Bell.
Bell dropped below the red and white lines on the backstretch which gave him the momentum and drafting help from Kurt Busch to edge Chastain at the checkered flag with the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team initially being credited with third.
NASCAR, however, within minutes of the checkered flag penalized Bell for his improper pass which bumped Chastain to the runner-up position for the second straight week.
“Yeah, what a day,” said Chastain after the race. “That’s a fight in Trackhouse. This Gen 7 car to take a lick like that, blow a tire out of nowhere and leading, just cruising, blow a right rear, slam the wall. Thought our day was over. Our guys went underneath the car, got the toe closer, and we got the balance back where I could drive it.
Dating back to Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway earlier this month, Chastain hasn’t finished worse than third in Cup Series competition.
“Just the Chevy was fast. It was so fast,” added Suarez. “I mean, we were fighting with Will(am Byron) there at the beginning. It’s so cool to race with, again, buddies. I’m getting to race with my — I only have a few, but the last few weeks I’ve been able to race with my buddies.
“Can’t thank everyone at Trackhouse, the Moose, everybody that’s been on this car, and Justin Marks and his family for what they do for me, and Daniel Suárez, what a teammate to push me there at the end.”
Two spots behind Chastain sat his Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez who carried the momentum of a top-10 finish last weekend at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and utilized the speed in his No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet to net his second top-five of 2022.
“It was just like that, up and down,” offered Suarez of his day. “Our No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet was fast. We did a good job on pit road. We had fast pit stops. When we have a fast Chevrolet Camaro, it makes things easier.
“Everyone at Trackhouse Racing has been working very, very hard to build cars like this. We just have to keep it up. We have a few trophies coming in the near future.”
Heading to the Circuit of the Americas next weekend in Austin, Texas – Chastain locks 10th in the Cup championship standings, while Suarez occupies 13th and continues his steady climb back forward recovering from his 37th place finish at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
