“I Didn’t Tell Him to Calm Down” – Justin Marks’ Big Admission on Dealing With Ross Chastain

Clearly, Ross Chastain’s racing style has significantly matured since receiving a stern message from Hendrick Motorsports’ chief, Rick Hendrick. Earlier in the season, Chastain was causing quite a stir on the track, being involved in numerous collisions with other drivers. However, at a certain juncture, the ‘melon man’ chose to modify his approach on the track and compete in a more cordial manner.

Recently, following Chastain’s victory at the Nashville Superspeedway, his boss at Trackhouse Racing divulged details of the dialogue they’d had. During the discussion, Justin Marks confessed that both he and Chastain have been learning as they progress, admitting his inexperience as a team owner himself.

Justin Marks on conversations with Ross Chastain after Rick Hendrick’s warning

Justin Marks elaborated on the discussions that took place between him and his driver. He clarified that he had nothing to do with Chastain changing his on-track behavior over the past couple of races, especially since, Rick Hendrick made that call to Chastain.

Marks mentioned, “Yeah, well, I didn’t tell him to calm down. I didn’t tell him to settle down. I mean, I think that this whole conversation between us is a narrative that is sort of taking on a little bit of a life of its own in the media… You know, I am going through this process with Ross, the same thing that he’s going through. I mean, I’m not an experienced team owner in this series, and then I’m learning as I go.”

“And so we have conversations not as like boss and employee or anything but as friends and as competitors and, you know, as people together just trying to try to figure out what this path is. And so, you know, the conversation that we had was, we have an amazing opportunity here we have incredible people check house racing, putting race-winning speed cars underneath us, and let’s take advantage of opportunities it’s not throw them away.”

Justin Marks calls Ross Chastain’s win at Nashville a dream come true

Soon after, Marks also spoke about how impressive Chastain’s win was at Nashville. Pointing out how the melon man managed race drivers like Martin Truex Jr. and battle him for the win.

Marks added, “So all the pressures on and then he takes that with a race-winning car, he qualifies on the pole. He manages the race perfectly. He runs three wide for the lead for four laps. Holds off Martin Truex Jr, who’s probably the fastest guy right now. One of the fastest guys that Toyota has all that stuff right there and puts a perfect race together and I think, you know, that just shows the maturity of a driver.”

“He’s learning his place, and he’s learning how to take all the tools that he’s got and that we have as a team and try to make something really important special out of it. And I mean, like what a dream come true…”

It is interesting to see Chastain evolve with time and reduce his on-track shenanigans. Hopefully, he can finally get that “wrecking-ball” title off his name as he progresses as a driver in the Cup Series. With this win in the bag, Chastain currently has himself secured for the playoffs later this season. We look forward to see the Trackhouse Racing driver capitalize on this moment and push forward for the races ahead of him.