Over a month removed from the highly publicized and criticized crash between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson at Darlington Raceway, the Trackhouse Racing driver continues to evolve.
Chastain was criticized by Larson’s team owner Rick Hendrick in the intermediate aftermath of the incident, which took both drivers out of contention for the victory. Trackhouse owner Justin Marks also spoke out, telling SiriusXM NASCAR Radio there were difficult conversations taking place, including with his driver.
In the three races since, Chastain has earned one top-10 finish and led just one lap. He’s gone from the points lead into a tie for third in the championship standings with Ryan Blaney.
“I’m definitely going to learn from Darlington,” Chastain said at Nashville Superspeedway. “I don’t want to wreck myself; I want to win races. Whatever I can do to wreck less and win more will definitely be top of mind and priority.
“I take what people say to heart, though, especially my boss, my owner. The guy that hires me and guides me. He’s a racer himself, so we’ve talked as just racers and buddies just as much as we’ve talked as owner and driver. People can think what they want. I know what our path is, has been, and is currently in what we’re planning, and I’m totally comfortable in the spot we’re in.”
When pressed on whether he’s finding a different approach of rhythm on the racetrack, Chastain said, “I’m trying to find victory lane. … I was there (Friday) night with Carson Hocevar, and I’ve got to get back myself. That’s all we’re trying to find.”
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Chastain has not won a Cup Series race since April of last season. Some of the criticism thrown his way in recent months is that his driving style has cost the No. 1 team opportunities to capitalize on fast race cars. However, from the outside looking in after Darlington, some would argue he’s been more conservative behind the wheel.
On Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway, Chastain earned his first career pole in the Cup Series and the first for Trackhouse Racing. It came at their home track.
“Personally, it’s a day that I will truly never forget,” Chastain said after qualifying. “No matter how the weekend goes or the rest of the year, I will always have a memory of today. We all have key, core memories within our lives and in our minds.”
Time will tell if the pole win is a positive step in momentum for Chastain to regain his footing.
“I don’t really know how this changes in the spotlight and things like that,” he said. “I’m me. Trackhouse gets the good and the bad, and our sport as a whole gets me for who I am. Everybody expects me to just be, like, very repeatable and robotic, I feel like — that I should just be one way or the other. I’m human; I’m going to do things different each time and try to be better.
“I’m not going to do the same thing over and over because if I want to do that, I’d be really good at failing and I don’t like failure. I don’t like crashing. I want to win. I will continue to evolve to do that. I’ve got a really good group around me that gets me through the bad days. We celebrate the good days and work through the bad ones, and keep working in the good ones, as well.”