LAS VEGAS: Ross Chastain didn’t want to celebrate his rally from the rear of the field to a fourth-place finish in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet didn’t want to discuss picking up points in the first stage or leading laps on Sunday.
After taking a moment on pit road to gather himself, Chastain could only think about what might have been, had he executed a flawless race.
“I’ve sped on pit road all three weekends,” Chastain said, reflecting on penalties accrued in the Daytona Duels, the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta and Sunday’s race at LVMS. “We’ve had legitimate speed in all three points races this year. I’m just beside myself that I did it again. We had a car that was at least fast enough to at least fight with (race winner) Kyle (Larson) and (runner-up) Tyler (Reddick).
“Our Kubota team and Trackhouse… when they bring cars like this, it just really, really hurts to continue to make mistakes.”
Chastain started fifth in the first Daytona qualifier but was busted for speeding on Lap 44. He served his drive-through penalty on the following lap, dropped to the rear and couldn’t recover with 15 laps remaining. Despite a caution with 10 to go, Chastain finished 11th. He started—and finished—22nd in the Daytona 500.
The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team unloaded a competitive Chevy at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Chastain qualified 21st but fought his way over the first 60 laps to finish third in Stage 1. He dropped to 28th at the end of Stage 2—resulting from a speeding penalty on Lap 132. Chastain recovered to finish seventh, only to have the consequences of his mistake magnified as his teammate Daniel Suarez won in a three-wide finish.
Sunday, Chastain rolled off 35th, relegated to the rear of the field after his team had to fix a faulty wrap on his car (an unapproved adjsutment according to the rule book). He climbed to 21st following the first caution on Lap 16, then picked up points for finishing eighth at the end of Stage 1 on Lap 81. After service during the break, Chastain restarted 13th. During the next round of green flag pit stops on Lap121, Chastain exceeded the speed limit. The drive-through penalty dropped the driver to the rear of the field once again. When Stage 2 concluded on Lap 166, Chastain was mired at 27th.
“One of the pillars of insanity is to continue making the mistakes,” Chastain said. “And I feel pretty insane for doing it again.”
No doubt Chastain remains his worst critic. Yet over the final 95 circuits, with strategy and the support of his team, the 31-year-old racer from Alva, Fla., climbed from 22nd to his first top-five result of 2024. A two-tire pit call by crew chief Phil Surgen provided Chastain with the opportunity to restart second with 27 laps remaining.
While he couldn’t catch Larson or hold off Reddick or Ryan Blaney with just two new tires, Chastain managed to keep the rest of the field behind him for a fourth-place finish. He climbed from eighth to fifth in the NASCAR Cup standings.
“With a fast car, you can pass cars,” Chastain said. “And we could do that. You just can’t be laps down.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
