Chastain Charges From Deep For Strong Atlanta Top 10

Ross Chastain (HHP Harold Hinson photo)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Some say Ross Chastain has a strong combination of talent, experience, and aggression that makes him a successful NASCAR Cup Series driver.

Sunday evening at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, he put those labels to the test in collecting his first top 10 finish of the young season.

Chastain rebounded tremendously for Trackhouse Racing after starting out back in 33rd position during Saturday’s qualifying session. It took a full effort from the No. 1 team Sunday in the Ambetter Health 400, with Chastain crediting much of his excellent drive to eighth to his team and crew chief Phil Surgen.

“To qualify 33rd and drive through the field is great; I did make some bad decisions throughout the race. However, the car was good enough in field drafting traffic to keep cycling forward,” said Chastain. “It was a great call made by Phil Surgen there at the beginning of the final stage to come down pit road and get four tires. I was definitely second guessing that in the moment, but it was definitely the right call.

“I am glad he is the one making the calls on the No. 1 Moose Chevrolet and glad for a strong result.”

Chastain collected his fourth top 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway since its reconfiguration to a drafting track in 2022, in addition to leading 25 laps on Sunday. All of the 117 total laps the 31-year-old has led at the Hampton, Ga., track have come in its superspeedway style of racin.

The Alva, Fla., native was able to handle many surges from the three lanes the rigorous handling gauntlet Atlanta’s surface has become, while also creating runs of his own. Specifically in the closing laps, Chastain mixed things up with fellow Chevrolet driver Carson Hocevar.

The two were lined up together first and third to begin the race’s lone overtime restart. The expectation was the pair were going to work with one another to get each other a better opportunity at a chance to win.

However, instead of working together as brand teammates, Hocevar took a run of momentum and made a move on Chastain to go low and put the No. 1 three-wide in the middle, instead of working together to have a better shot at eventual first and second place finishers Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

While the two had a private but visible conversation on pit road after the race, the discussion about all that transpired ended in a handshake between the two drivers instead of at odds with one another.

The young Spire Motorsports driver of Hocevar said he viewed Chastain as his mentor, while on the other side, Chastain acknowledged the moment wouldn’t drag out any further between the two drivers.

Little should overshadow a great afternoon by Chastain and his No. 1 team. To collect a top 10 after qualifying lower than 30th on Saturday is “bigger than a racing deal” between two competitors going for the win in overtime.

After seeing a good result fall into the bank, Chastain and Team Trackhouse move on a track that saw a historic moment in his franchise’s history. Up next on the Cup Series schedule is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, home to Chastain’s first career Cup Series win back in 2022.

He hasn’t finished worse than seventh in any of his COTA appearances and has led laps in three out of the four races he’s been behind the wheel of a Cup Series car on the Lone Star State road course.

Broadcast coverage of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix is slated for Sunday, March 2 at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.