Chastain is always in the headlines, for both positive and negative reasons. But it never rattled him or slowed him down ... that is until a run-in with Kyle Larson at Darlington in May, which included some very public criticism from Rick Hendrick.
The No. 1 team seemed to fall off in the races that followed, losing the points lead and a tenth-place finish at Sonoma being their only top-20 to speak in the last month. But that all changed in the spiritual home of Trackhouse Racing at Nashville. Scoring his first-ever Cup pole, Chastain followed it up with his first win of the 2023 season.
He led a third of the race, and had to pass the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin to get it done.
Afterwards, his emotion was palpable as an immense weight lifted off his shoulders. His team owner Justin Marks called the victory "amazing for this company." It's Trackhouse's fourth since entering the Cup Series in 2021, and third courtesy of Chastain.
"Last couple weeks have been a little bit tough for us," admitted Marks. "We got so many great talented people, two great race car drivers, amazing partners. I think what we're doing is special, feels special.
"It's hard for new teams to come in this sport at this level and be successful. But we've got two incredible race car drivers. I think Ross showed today that he's really in rare air in this series, at this level. He's learning, he's maturing. It's an incredible moment for us."
Marks went on to explain why a win at Nashville is so important for the fledgling company. "Everybody that works on this team, we build these cars, work on these cars in North Carolina, but this is a Middle Tennessee company. Ty (Norris) and Matt (Norris) and Dean (Stoyer), we run this company out of Nashville, Tennessee. We have great partners like Tootsies in Nashville, Tennessee, some great support. All the Worldwide Express people here this weekend, what an incredible weekend for them. Carson winning the truck race, Ross getting his first pole, putting the performance on and winning this race.
"We lost Rob Rose a year ago here in Nashville. He was such a believer in Trackhouse and this company, Worldwide Express' partnership in this company. For us to put a weekend on like this, it's emotional. I'm so proud of each and every person in this company."
Chastain's successes rarely come without controversy or high drama, from his win at COTA last year to the wall-ride at Martinsville during the playoffs. But Sunday's race may have been his best showing yet, staying up front and keeping his wits about him through 300 laps of tight racing for the lead.
"Just watching Ross do what Ross does, what he's capable of doing out there, what a bright future we have as a company," said Marks. "Tonight I think we just saw what kind of driver he is. It's an amazing moment for our company.
No sit down with Ross
There were calls for Trackhouse to rein in Chastain after Darlington, which appeared to slow him down on track. But Marks says he didn't have a 'sit-down' with Chastain, as many have claimed. It was more about making sure an opportunity to win like he had at Darlington is not wasted again.
"There was not really a moment, a sit-down moment, with Ross. It wasn't like, Do this or do that. I have been going through this experience as a Cup owner alongside Ross as a Cup driver for the first time. He's made mistakes. I've made mistakes. We're learning together.
He later added: "That conversation was like, Let's work hard, the both of us, to just not throw away amazing opportunities that we have. I'll help you as much as I can. You try to help me. Let's go through this process together. That's what the conversation was. It turned into me sitting him down and telling him something, which is not the truth. That's not what happened."
Chastain certainly capitalized on the opportunity at Nashville, with Marks saying "he did everything right" during the 400-mile race. At one point, he found himself trapped behind slower cars with seemingly nowhere to go, but Chastain waited for the opportune moment and cut a path through the middle that ended up separating him from a charging Truex.
"That's the process that Ross is going through right now. You look at a race like tonight, I mean, he just did everything right, everything perfectly. He had a super fast car. The conditions changed from day to night. They ran three-wide for three laps, which was incredible. He did everything right."
Evolving his race craft
Although some have called for the 'old Ross' to come back or believe we saw a 'new Ross' at Nashville, his crew chief says it's not so extreme. Chastain is merely refining his craft, ensuring to extract the most out of every weekend — as he did at Nashville. But he's still the same guy behind the wheel.
Phil Surgen, who has been with Chastain since the Ganassi days in 2021, said post-race: "That's the same Ross that I know, the same Ross that I know. Nothing any different. I think a lot of people want to make a mountain out of a molehill a lot of time.
"Today there was plenty of opportunities that everybody needed to be aggressive. We saw the three-wide for four laps towards the middle of the race.
"Everybody is always learning. Everybody is always refining their craft. He's in the same boat. I am. Everybody is. He's made some small adjustments. Obviously when it comes to needing to be aggressive, he's well capable and he showed it earlier today."
After Sunday's race, Chastain touched on the mountain of criticism he faced following Darlington and relying on his team for support.
“This is why every little kid out there anywhere in the world, when you get criticized, and you’re going to if you’re competitive, they will try to tear you down. You will start believing you can’t do it. You have to go to your people, trust in the process, read your books, trust the big man’s plan upstairs, just keep getting up and going to work. I got to tell you, a lot of self-reflection throughout all this.
“I had a group that believed in me and they didn’t let me get down. They bring rocket ships and I just try to point them to Victory Lane.”
Surgen made sure to let Chastain know he wasn't alone in those difficult moments, explaining how he handled the situation after Darlington: "More than anything, the team, we have his back. He just needs to know that we support him. Anything that we can do to help in those moments is critical.
"More or less he just needs to know that we have confidence in him and we're there to support him."
Chastain entered the race weekend at Nashville saying he wanted to "wreck less and win more." He certainly lived up to that promise on Sunday.
