AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ross Chastain and his No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet Camaro were the fastest car on the track in the closing laps of Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway, but he ran out of laps to catch and pass Joey Logano for the final win of the season and the coveted Cup Series championship.
After botching his qualifying lap on Saturday morning, Chastain quickly showcased the speed in his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro throughout Stage 1 – moving up the scoring pylon and slowly but surely catching his Championship 4 rivals.
The Alva, Fla. native eventually got there and when he did – he did not disappoint.
Whether you believe it to be his fault or not, Chastain found himself in the headlines after making contact with Championship 4 rival Chase Elliott on a Lap 201 restart in Stage 3 that ultimately eliminated the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and leaving this year’s title down to Joey Logano, Chastain and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.
A slow pit stop may have hindered Chastain’s chances during the “Money Stop” towards the end of Stage 3 – but after finishing third behind Logano and Ryan Blaney, the two-time Cup Series winner was full of gratitude and appreciation.
Yeah, the emotions are surprisingly good,” said Chastain. “Like I’m not sad. I’m not upset. I honestly thought when we started the playoffs that if we made it as I go through different scenarios, and I do think about what I’m going to think about ahead of time and think about what my thoughts are going to be and what I want them to be, and then I try to evaluate as I go.
“I thought if I — like this scenario, if I lost by a little bit, that I would be really upset, and I’m not. Like I’m so proud and so happy to give our first shot at these playoffs and at racing in the Cup Series with Trackhouse, and we just ran second.”
Even though he was slowly chopping into Logano’s lead – Chastain knew that the Team Penske group had the field covered.
“Mr. Penske’s group had us covered all day, and Joey was the best car until the final run, then we had a real shot to race with him,” added Chastain, “But we didn’t have the balance in our car and the grip in our car all day to be that way.
“So, I’m proud of the effort. Nobody got upset, nobody got flustered, we just kept working on our car all day.”
Chastain chalked up his contact with Elliott as a racing incident.
“I think I got a better start,” Chastain explained. “I got to his left-rear and he tried to cover it late and I was already there. I feel like it was just hard racing and I had position. We could have raced down in the corner side-by-side if he had just kept going the way we were going.
“I had a really good run. It looked like William (Byron) didn’t get going quite as well as he wanted to. I got to the left of (Elliott) and saw an erratic move that he made to turn left to cover it but I was already there. It’s not who I want to race them or those guys.
“For everyone at GM, I needed other Chevys up there to fight those other guys. It’s not what I want to do, but I feel like I had position on him and he tried to cover it late.”
Chastain admitted after the race that had they been able to start their No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro closer to the front of the field – the outcome of the race might have been different.
“Starting better and racing up there with those guys all day (would have helped),” Chastain added. “We got our car really good there at the end. Hats off to Phil Surgen (crew chief) and everybody at Trackhouse. It’s incredible to build from 2011. To have my family push me away from the farm to chase this dream.
“For my mom, my dad and my brother to come out and keep pushing me, keep supporting me and keep being there for me. But today was all about winning the big trophy and we came up just a little bit short.”
A Hail Mary maneuver in the penultimate NASCAR Cup Series race of the season last weekend at Martinsville Speedway allowed Chastain to catapult the championship standings and leapfrog Denny Hamlin for the fourth and final championship slot.
When asked if he considered utilizing that same move on Logano on Sunday, Chastain said he didn’t believe it would work into his favor again.
“I didn’t think it would,” said Chastain. “I think we were going too fast here and didn’t think it would work. I thought it would at Martinsville and feel like I was very blessed and fortunate that it did. But not here.”
Chastain who scored the most top-five and top-10 finishes during the 2022 season refereed to his inaugural Cup Series season with Trackhouse as “wild” – adding it was the cumulative effort of many people that not only help him reach the pinnacle series of NASCAR – but the opportunity to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro in 2022.
“I think we did everything right there at the end,” expressed Chastain. “That was a heck of a drive by us. Who had the No. 1 car second in points on their bingo card on February 1? This is pretty wild. This is a continuation of a lot of people believing in me. To build everything together to come drive this car, there are so many team owners and so many crew members that have put in the work.
“It’s pretty wild to fight for a Cup Series championship and to have a car fast enough to chase them down to the end. It’s also a testament to everyone at Chevy and GM to make me a better race car driver.
“And my family… they have stuck with me and pushed me from the farm to NASCAR. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do at the track and on the farm. A lot of people probably weren’t sure how I’d be getting out the car.
“But I’m so proud of the effort and so proud of the execution on pit road of our pit crew. This is only our first shot with Trackhouse. For Justin Marks, Ty (Norris, team president) and Pitbull to believe in me to drive this 1 car, it’s incredible.
“Hats off to Penske and everyone on Joey’s team. I’m happy for them and I’m genuinely happy right now for our team. I wish we had another go at it.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
