There’s perhaps no other driver who’d be as pumped up and as confident as Ross Chastain heading into Chicago this weekend. After all, he not only has found his groove back with a win last week in Nashville, but he also has a decent record on road courses. So this raises the question, what is Chastain focused on the most for Chicago?
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Because Chicago is going to be the first of its kind race in the NASCAR Cup Series. And drivers, irrespective of talent or form, will all be heading into the unknown when it comes to the type of racing.
Fortunately for Chastain fans, their driver has more or less an idea of where he wants to put his effort and talent during the race.
Ross Chastain opens up on adjusting his approach for a street course
Speaking ahead of the weekend in Chicago, Chastain was asked about his expectations regarding the competition on the racetrack between drivers. In his response, Chastain said for him, it’s “still about naturally driving the car and attacking the track.”
“But there is just no runoff. In practice, on these road courses is that I can overstep, spin out, and it’s okay in practice. Get the clutch pushed in, don’t let the engine turn over backwards, don’t lock a tire up and drag the car coming back in the pits, and don’t hit a tire barrier. It’s usually far enough away that there is room enough to stop and slide and learn the limit,” Chastain described.
“Here that is not the case. There is no runoff and no room for error. In talking with drivers that have run street races before with these tight walls, that is the biggest difference.”
Chastain on the big penalty drivers will have to pay for a mistake in Chicago
The Trackhouse star added how virtually a driver can prepare, attack and crash in a simulator, but in the real world, “it’s going to all close in.”
“I have just taken the approach that I know its going to feel terrible as far as wall proximity and knowing that I know the penalty in practice, qualifying, and the race, and its really big. The moment that I break traction, I am not going to wonder if I am going to hit the wall for very long, because the wall is right there.”
Chastain claimed that has precisely been the biggest thing for him mentally, the balancing act. “To balance aggression for lap time and penalty of overstepping that aggression and hitting the wall,” he said.
The Watermelon man claimed that has been his focus all week.
