A dominant performance at Nashville Superspeedway en route to his first NASCAR Cup Series win in over a year had Justin Marks singing the praises of his driver Ross Chastain.
“I think Ross showed today that he’s really in rare air in this series, at this level,” Marks said Sunday night. “He’s learning, he’s maturing. It’s an incredible moment for us.”
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Nashville is the birthplace of Trackhouse Racing, which helped make the victory sweeter. But for Chastain, it helped quiet the criticism he’s faced in recent months about his driving style, doing so in a race where he had the best car
Chastain started from the pole and led a race-high 99 of 300 laps. In the first stage, Chastain finished second to Tyler Reddick, and he finished third in the second stage to Denny Hamlin. Throughout the race, Chastain’s average running position was 10.6.
Given his history with Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., Chastain admitted there was satisfaction in having to pass those two drivers for the victory. A victory that was his first on a true oval after wins at the Circuit of the Americas road course and Talladega Superspeedway.
But for Marks, the win was about capitalizing on an opportunity. Chastain was the subject of criticism at Darlington Raceway for crashing with Kyle Larson while battling for the lead late in the going. It appeared to be a turning point as Marks publicly said there were things to clean up and discuss.
“There was not really a moment, a sit-down moment, with Ross,” said Marks. “It wasn’t like, ‘Do this,’ or ‘Do that.’ I have been going through this experience as a Cup owner alongside Ross as a Cup driver for the first time. He’s made mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. We’re learning together.
“I think after Darlington, there was such an opportunity to have such a moment for our team that I think we just sat down and go, ‘How do we make sure that we don’t miss these opportunities?’ When we’ve got opportunities to make statements and win races, with the speed we have in our race cars, how good everybody is, let’s make sure we’re making decisions to put ourselves in a position to capitalize and have nights like we did tonight.”
Chastain has had to learn to compete at the Cup Series level. In the process, his aggressive style ruffled feathers. Entering the weekend, Chastain admitted he’s still evolving as a driver.
“You look at a race like tonight, he just did everything right, everything perfectly,” said Marks. “He had a super-fast car. The conditions changed from day to night. They ran three wide for three laps, which was incredible. He did everything right.
“I think it’s a huge win for us because I think it’s a big moment for him and this team personally because it says that we have an opportunity to win so many races and compete and win for championships in this series. Such a bright future ahead of us. We’re all, like, super motivated and inspired for the future.”
With the victory, Chastain clinched a return trip to the playoffs, where he came within one spot of winning the championship last season.