DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Every time Ross Chastain pulls into the parking lot at Trackhouse Racing, he has a friendly reminder of the one that got away.
Team owner Justin Marks had the number ‘235’ drawn between two 235-foot strips of painted asphalt on the road outside of the race shop symbolizing the margin of victory between Joey Logano — the eventual winner of the 2022 Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway — and Chastain, who finished third.
For some drivers, especially one who had never even qualified for the Playoffs, just advancing to the Championship 4 Round would be enough. For Chastain, who has gone from fighting for a ride to signing a long-term contract extension with NASCAR’s hottest up-and-coming team, only success will do.
“When we got done with Phoenix, I took a moment—and some days—to really try to soak in what just happened, how close we were,” Chastain said. “I didn’t really want to talk about the details much, outside of the competition, what we could do to make our car better.
“Justin goes and paints a 235-foot section in front of our shop with ‘235’ painted on the road. Every day I drive in and out I have to drive across that. That’s the difference between Joey Logano and us. Winning a championship, us losing.”
Initially, Chastain didn’t grasp the method to Marks’ motivation. How could a number and a little paint inspire the 30-year-old watermelon farmer from Alva, Florida? But the gesture wasn’t solely for Chastain.
“One of the thing that’s important for us when we talk about workforce culture and what we’re trying to do is to define those things that can truly unite everybody,” Marks said. “We were 235-feet from winning the championship with the (No.) 1 car last year but it’s more a philosophy of everybody in the company.
“So, it’s one of those things that can be thoughtful for everybody—that everybody can think about every day that they come to work. That’s an important core tenet of our business. It’s how we run culture at our company. I was really excited to do it.”
Marks used ‘235’ as the impetus to rally the troops before the season.
“The messaging is we were 235-feet away from winning the biggest prize in motorsports in all of North America—maybe the world,” Marks added. “And inside that 235-feet is room for improvement. So, my message to the everybody in the company was, ‘What are the little things can you contribute every day to making up those 235-feet?’
“Maybe it’s not on the race car. Maybe it’s taking your wife out to one more date a month or playing with your kids a little more. Whatever it does that can make you come to work incrementally better. So that’s where the philosophy comes from. What is your 235-feet? What are you going to do this year to help contribute to that 235-feet? It’s that philosophy of constant self-improvement and self-audit that is the message that we want to champion in our workforce.”
Five years ago, Chastain could not have imagined this moment. He was driving for mid-pack teams in the lower series trying to cobble races together. Chastain breathed deeply to hold back tears on Thursday as Marks officially announced the contract extension that would feature Chastain prominently in Trackhouse Racing’s future.
Marks was verklempt as well. One day earlier, the company revealed Daniel Suarez’s contract had been renewed. Under Marks’ direction, two drivers left for field-filler status evolved into winners last year. Both drivers qualified for the Playoffs, one missing the NASCAR Cup title by 235-feet.
“The more I drive over it, I grip the wheel a little bit there and it drives me to be better,” Chastain said of the sign. “Justin has that way about him. We’re totally different in that aspect of the way our brains work.”
Fortunately for Chastain and Suarez, Marks identified a hunger in both racers. In the right environment, the 30-something drivers would flourish.
“It was incredibly important for Trackhouse to have two race car drivers that have a lot of fire,” Marks said. “There are 36 guys that walk in this garage every week and there aren’t 36 hot, burning fires in those guys. Period.
“I want two guys where that fires burning the hottest because you have to want it. It’s very difficult. It’s a very, very competitive sport. And I started this team with two guys that had never won a race before. Never made the Playoffs before. And that didn’t matter to me at all because that that potential was there through their work ethic, their dedication and just how badly they wanted it.
“And I’ll bet on that seven days a week.”
