In the last year and a half, NASCAR fans and drivers have come to expect nothing but aggressive racing with a goal to pass and pass to win from Ross Chastain. This approach reminds many of the good old days of hardcore and pure racing. But this approach has led Chastain into the mouth of trouble many times.
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And this approach could lead him into big trouble this weekend in Chicago as NASCAR takes its Cup goods to the streets for the first time. Of course, racing on a street course is worlds apart from racing on an oval, or a short track, or even a road course. The margin of error is certainly very less and the cost to pay for an error is definitely very high.
But does that mean Chastain is going to change his approach in Chicago this Sunday?
Will Ross Chastain be aggressive or patient in Chicago?
During a press conference ahead of the Chicago Street race, Chastain was asked about his preferred approach to being aggressive or being patient to make a pass.
“I know it’s easy to sit here and say it, but fundamentally I talked about rolling out in practice and being on the reserved side. I will attack my car, but I will not attack the track,” Chastain said.
“I want to feel if I am tight or loose and if I am bouncing too much. I am not going to go two seconds off the pace, but I might be on lap one. But I will work up to it. And then on the restarts and stuff, I just think we have, for me, I have so much more to gain in not being the aggressor….and will pay off.”
“I am not saying I am just going to roll over and let people take advantage of me, but I want to be on the better end, walking out of here, with opinions of other drivers and their thoughts about me.”
Chastain would rather be on the better end than the worse end
Furthering adding to his response, Ross Chastain claimed he would much rather prefer to be on the better end of things than the worse. But he clarified that it doesn’t mean he won’t “overshoot a brake zone” and things of that nature in the race.
“We will see how that goes throughout the weekend and if we change that. So, if I missed my braking and I get into somebody, not saying I am not going to do something on accident, but I am not maliciously going out and bulldoze through there.”
The #1 driver claimed that on his side of things, there is “a conscious and mental effort” to not be on the aggression side during a turn one divebomb.
With all that said, if there’s an opportunity to pass someone cleanly, Ross Chastain claimed he will do it.
