Ross Chastain turned in another ho-hum finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, landing a second straight runner-up result after a P2 at Las Vegas the week before.
Why ho-hum? Because we’re now living in a world in which the weekly expectation for the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet driver, who entered 2022 with three total top fives through his first 115 NASCAR Cup Series starts, is a battle for the win and a finish among the leaders.
The 29-year-old Floridian’s out-in-the-open transformation over the course of a rollercoaster 2022 has been one of the most prominent among a handful of remarkable story lines on display this season. Chastain wasn’t in a whole lot of preseason playoff picks, yet here we are about to set the Championship 4 this Sunday at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio) and he’s in the best position to do so of the seven drivers not currently locked in.
It’s the culmination of a lot of deep, ongoing self-analysis and the drive to be better — and then going out and doing it. The Ross Chastain we’re seeing now is not the Ross Chastain that showed up to the LA Coliseum in February, or the one who drew the ire of seemingly half the field over the summer.
He’s leveled up.
“So I mean, (his decision-making improvement is) what I’ve seen in these playoffs. He’s learning when to push and when to chill, and you see it,” Trackhouse co-owner Justin Marks said on pit road after the Dixie Vodka 400, the Round of 8’s middle race. “I mean, he makes his way to the front. And then he’s a threat these last two weeks; he’s been a threat to win both races, obviously. So yeah, that’s just maturity. That’s part of going through the process. He’ll be doing it for a long time. But there’s an absolutely lethal race car driver in there somewhere. It’s just, you know, the experience will bring it out.”
MORE: Chastain’s evolution into Champ 4 contender
Chastain emerged from his home track looking every bit the championship part, battling with rival and fellow title contender Denny Hamlin cleanly toward the end, and for the second week in a row receiving props after the race from a driver he was racing with. After they stopped their cars on pit road, Chastain and P3-finisher AJ Allmendinger shared a hearty handshake just a week after Vegas winner Joey Logano made sure to mention how much fun he had racing the two-time 2022 winner in the closing laps.
Respect! 👊
What a duel from @RossChastain and @AJDinger today. pic.twitter.com/F7dGIXzHYm
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 23, 2022
Now contrast that with the constant chatter leading up to and during the playoffs about when drivers might potentially issue payback for past run-ins with Chastain. If they still plan to, we haven’t seen any recent evidence of it.
“(Drama) hasn’t really … you know, there’s been no reason to have that conversation for months now,” said Marks, whose Trackhouse organization has won three total races in its second year of existence. “I mean, it was just a moment in time. And, you know, he learned from it and grew from it. And he’s not going to be that type of guy forever. You know what I mean? It’s just part of the learning experience. So, I suspect that the Ross Chastain we’ve seen for the last couple of months is the Ross Chastain we’re gonna see for many years to come.”
Let’s not put the (watermelon) cart before the horse, of course, but if this is the driver we’re going to see for the next decade-plus, in cars that are already this fast coming from an organization with one of the strongest trajectories in the Cup Series … just do the math there. That’s a strong recipe for a shot at double-digit career wins and the potential for multiple championships, the first of which could come in less than two weeks.
There’s always the chance, as we’ve seen with the comers and goers on the leaderboard in the Next Gen’s first year, that other cars in the garage catch up to Chastain and crew chief Phil Surgen and their weekly ways of finding the front. At the same time, however, it feels like this group still has a ways to go before hitting its ceiling, and that momentum could certainly be carried into 2023 and beyond.
“We’re learning more about what he needs in a race car and giving him a race car for his style. And that just comes with everything we’re learning around this new car, but then his relationship with Phil continuing to develop and making sure during the week that they’re really listening to each other,” said Marks. ” … I mean, look, he’s been here for a long time. He’s got a lot of Cup starts. He’s driven a lot of stuff. And he’s just now in a position where he’s sitting in race cars that can win almost every week. So I just think it goes back to him recognizing the opportunity that he’s got, and just trying to maximize that opportunity to the most of his ability.”
For an ambitious organization that’s intent on doing things differently, it begs the question if expansion – beyond Trackhouse’s Project 91 program – could be in the works.
If so, is the “next Ross Chastain” out there?
“I think as the team grows, obviously, as a company, we have to start looking for talent out there,” said the driver-turned-owner. “But I want both these guys (including No. 99 driver Daniel Suárez) in these cars for a long time. So that’s definitely where we’re at right now. And that’ll just be something for way further down the line as we continue to build this company. I think it probably just goes to … is Trackhouse gonna be in a position over the next couple of years to expand to a third team? And, you know, charter acquisition is a tough thing right now, if not impossible at this moment in time. So we’re just committed to our two guys and our two cars.
” … But yeah, I mean, it’s part of the process. I’m excited watching (Ross) go through it. Excited about our opportunity.”