Very quickly and very emphatically, Ross Chastain became one of the main fixtures in the Top 10 week in and week out in NASCAR. After all, he made the final 4 last season. This year too, while, he hasn’t won a race yet, he has been part of the contention to win a few. And of course, he has had his ‘Ross Chastain’ moments too.
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But in the last few races, there’s been a massive dip in his performances and finishes. Consider the fact that before Darlington, he had an average finish of 11th, and after that race, it dropped to 21st.
So what happened to Chastain?
Well, according to Freddie Kraft, the spotter of Bubba Wallace, it was ‘the talk’ from Justin Marks that followed after Rick Hendrick’s public statement against the #1 driver after Darlington.
Freddie Kraft on the after-effects of Hendrick’s warning on Ross Chastain
Speaking in a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft addressed the subject of the recent dip in Chastain’s performances. He claimed that while this is “obviously internal stuff” at Trackhouse Racing, the talk he received from his boss wasn’t something that was needed.
“Because you look at it, he was making mistakes, but that deal with Brennan Poole at Dover, it was an accident. It wasn’t malicious. He didn’t drive in there to run Brennan Poole over. Brennan Poole lifted before he thought he was going, he was on his bumper; he turned him,” the spotter made the case. “The next one, we all sat here after Talladega and agreed that Ross didn’t do any wrong. Noah left the door open. Ross filled it. Then, Darlington, he’s going for the win. Now he misjudged and made a mistake. But it wasn’t like he was just out of control.”
“I think it was a direct result of Rick Hendrick publically speaking out and saying, ‘I’m kind of tired of this guy wrecking my racecars and I kind of have given my guys the green light to, they got to handle it themselves.'”
What Rick Hendrick said about Chastain post-Darlington
After the race at Darlington in which Kyle Larson found himself on the wrong side of the things because of Ross Chastain, directly or indirectly, Rick Hendrick took the mic and issued a warning to the Trackhouse driver. Mr. H claimed that he doesn’t care if Chastain is a Chevrolet driver if he wrecks his cars, that he should expect consequences, regardless.
“I don’t care. I’ve told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back. If you don’t do it, they’ll run all over you,” Hendrick said as per NBC Sports. “I’m loyal to Chevrolet, but when somebody runs over us, then I expect my guys to hold their ground. I’m not going to ask them to yield just because of Chevrolet.”
Hendrick also added that it’d be tough for Chastain to win a championship if he makes a lot of enemies on the racetrack, yet, for now, it seems, the biggest enemy for the #1 driver isn’t an outside entity, but his own team. Now, whether that interference was needed, and whether Chastain’s actions were justified under hard racing, that’s a subjective matter.
But what isn’t subjective is his run of results in the last few races.
