Ross Chastain played a central role in the first overtime restart of the Autotrader 400 on Sunday night and the push that he gave Carson Hocevar was what resulted in Christopher Bell getting turned over and losing control of the race. But after crossing the checkered flag in third place, Chastain spoke to the media about how jealous he was of the Toyotas out on the track.
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Driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE, Tyler Reddick won the race, just a week after securing the Daytona 500. His teammate, Bubba Wallace, meanwhile, had finished in eighth place.
Chastain, being a Chevrolet driver, was amazed by the speed both of their cars carried. Furthermore, it reminded him of the speed that his own car used to have during his early days with Trackhouse Racing.
On SiriusXM NASXAR Radio, Chastain said, “It feels like the old 1 car, which is good. That’s the good old days, that’s what we’re trying to find, and we had glimpses of it today. We’re not there yet.
“We’re not 23XI. I know Tyler won, busted fender, that’ll be the story, but the 23 was the best car. Darrell [Wallace] drove a great race, most of the race, and his car was strong enough that he could kind of do stuff on his own.”
Ross Chastain on the @SiriusXMNASCAR Radio post-race show about his third-place finish: “It feels like the old 1 car, which is good. That’s the good old days, is what we’re trying to find, and we had glimpses of it today. We’re not there yet. We’re not 23XI. I know Tyler won,…
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) February 23, 2026
Wallace was also in a great position to win the race. He was leading when the overtime restart began, but he made a bad defensive move that resulted in him losing spots to those behind him. He let victory slip through his fingers after leading 46 laps. Nevertheless, Chastain was pleased with what he’d seen. It left him with only one course of action.
He continued, “It was crazy. So, we’re not there. We’ll go back to the tech center at Chevy and back to Trackhouse and try to find it.”
Chastain admits not having a chance to win the race
When Reddick led Chase Briscoe on the backstretch during the final lap, Briscoe purposefully didn’t back up to Chastain to get a run. This is a common strategy drivers use at drafting tracks. As a result, Chastain ended up in third place while he could have possibly been standing atop his car, celebrating a win.
He told the press, “Down the back, Tyler had another gear. The 19 was tandem to me off of [turn] 2. We never had anything. I feel like the 19 meant not to back up to me. No chance at that point.”
Despite the disappointment, the race was a positive outcome for Chastain after the 20th-place finish he secured in Daytona.
