Ross Chastain Insists There’s No Bad Blood With Joey Logano After Phoenix Incident

Neha Dwivedi | 11/03/2026
Ross Chastain (L) and Joey Logano (R)

The Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway last Sunday saw a chain-reaction crash on lap 217 after Joey Logano triggered an incident during a restart that collected several cars. One of the drivers caught up in the crash was Ross Chastain, whom Logano tapped on the rear bumper, sending him spinning.

Anthony Alfredo, Bubba Wallace, and even Logano’s teammate Austin Cindric were also involved. Cindric took the brunt of the impact, slamming into the wall and coming to a halt, while Chastain’s car also suffered significant damage.

The No. 1 Chevrolet limped to pit road with steering issues and visible damage, forcing the crew to roll up their sleeves for repairs. After spending time in the garage, the car eventually returned to the track. Chastain stayed in the race until the end, though he crossed the line in 28th place, 26 laps behind race winner Ryan Blaney.

Chastain, however, chose not to carry a grudge. Speaking to reporters ahead of the race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a scrum interview, he said the two drivers settled the talk soon after the race ended.

He said, “Yeah, I got a bad restart, in my opinion, and then he got a run and ran into the back bumper.”

“But we talked. He gave me a call. Joey and I have a good working relationship on track. We’re very alike. Like, I’ve studied him throughout my career before I got to Cub and when I got here and tried to be like him. He’s not that much older than me, but has so much experience in some of the things he does behind the wheel.

“So, we have a good relationship, and that was just a bad deal, but we’re fine. We had a good conversation on Monday,” Chastain added.

Logano also owned up to the moment, saying the restart happened with little room to spare, and the space on the track vanished in a blink. Yet, he mentioned, “I hate that I got on the Ross. tried to, he had a good run there to try to slip him, and he kind of anticipated, he went down to the bottom, and we got into each other, and just ended up spending it much like me, too, so, it’s not the greatest of days.”

While Logano escaped that crash, trouble came knocking again. On lap 254, contact with AJ Allmendinger entering Turn 1 sparked another wreck that wiped out the No. 22 car. The crash pulled in Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Josh Berry, and Shane van Gisbergen.

Chastain, meanwhile, kept his car circulating after repairs. By staying on track until the end, he became the last car still running and picked up a handful of points over drivers who saw their day end before the finish.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Joey Logano Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix Raceway Ross Chastain Team Penske Trackhouse Racing

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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