CONCORD, N.C. — After a few days to debrief, Ross Chastain took time Wednesday afternoon to address Joey Logano’s post-race comments after the defending Cup champ felt the No. 1 driver was the primary factor that led to his spin from sixth place during the final stage of last Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
The Team Penske driver had blamed Chastain for blocking Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe out of the entrance of Turn 3, resulting in his No. 19 Toyota bumping the back of the No. 1 Chevrolet, but Briscoe caught the inside curbing in doing so to send him into the side of Logano’s Ford. The three-time Cup champion unloaded on Chastain in post-race interviews, saying, “He just races like a jackass every week, and I keep paying the price. I’m sick of paying the price.”
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Chastain was asked about the comments from his fellow NASCAR Cup Series veteran during his afternoon media availability at NASCAR’s Production Facility.
“I am confused by what he said. I don’t believe that the 19 [Briscoe] was trying to get to me,” said Chastain, currently 13th in points. “When I got down in front of the 22 the first time, there was a gap. Other guys had done that to me. That’s a very common move to get down in line. He took that opportunity to, I think, hit me harder than he needed to.
“I just couldn’t believe what they were saying and what they were telling me what he said. I would hope that he looked at it and had a little clearer mind. I mean, he’s a three-time champ. He can say what he wants. But those words have a lot of weight and to just get out and spew that, call me those names, is not appreciated, not warranted and honestly pretty disappointing that he would do that. To take feelings he had from COTA and other races and then take Martinsville, get out and just blast.”
Chastain believes Logano was carrying frustration from other races and particularly on-track actions from the Cup Series’ third race of the season at Circuit of The Americas. Logano felt Chastain forced another car into making contact with the No. 22 Ford late in that race as well. The Trackhouse Racing driver owned up to what he did then, but felt the Martinsville situation was completely different.
“COTA is kind of like, a lot of running into people, and to blame a car two cars back, OK. He can do it and I took it. He can have that,” Chastain said. “Then here [Martinsville], I wrecked him from in front of him? It’s like he’s hearing footsteps when I’m not there.
“He said on his interview he didn’t want to talk to me, and I’m not going to call him. I don’t need to call him. The whole calling, texting, clearing, it’s tiring at times. So, pretty disappointed to hear a guy like that, his caliber, his experience, just blast that stuff out there. Personally, I don’t feel that I need to defend myself or like I’m not going to get on and make a response.”
The two drivers have generally had a quiet on-track relationship, and Chastain even admitted that aside from a few aggressive blocks and a lengthy pit-road conversation at Kansas Speedway back in 2021, he and Logano have raced each other great. However, Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be a good indication if there are any lingering feelings from last week and how the two might race each other going forward this season.