Ross Chastain doesn’t return to Phoenix Raceway this weekend as the reigning NASCAR Cup champion, but he does enter as something almost as important – the track’s most recent winner.
Chastain dominated last fall’s race at Phoenix, leading 157 of 312 laps, but had already been eliminated from the playoffs, which allowed runner-up finisher Ryan Blaney to claim the Cup Series title. Still, the victory, plus the strong start to the 2024 season by both he and the entire Trackhouse Racing organization, makes Sunday’s race a prime opportunity for a repeat performance.
“It made a lot of things in the off season a lot easier than they have ever been,” Chastain said of his Phoenix win last November. “I’ve spent so many off seasons just trying to set my ride up, set my team up, sponsorships up – it’s a total 180 from that. “It’s almost indescribable.” Just three races into the new year, Chastain and his teammate Daniel Suarez have already shown they are capable of contending for wins, with Suarez picking up a photo-finish win at Atlanta and locking himself into the playoffs. Too many speeding penalties Chastain has been in contention in each of the three races but has been hampered by a pitroad speeding penalty in each one as well. A late-race two-tire pit call last weekend in Las Vegas put him back into contention for a win and he ended up fourth. Chastain said Saturday, he has been hard on himself about the speeding penalties because he feels he’s lost out on opportunities for his own early-season win. “Now, when we have cars capable of winning, I watched the race back post-Las Vegas and I’m like, ‘It doesn’t look like a race-winning car,’ but in the car, I felt like it was a race-winning capable car to fight with ,” he said. “That’s why my human emotion takes over and I can’t get out of my own way of saying anything, but I was just so sad that I took us out of a shot .” While Chastain realizes he still managed a good day at Las Vegas – and is fifth in the series standings after three races – he is left wondering what could have been had he battled Larson and Reddick on four tires at the end. “The speed of the car, it was driving so good that I could hustle it. That’s what makes it tough,” he said. “I get out , I’m human. I look back in my interviews and I should be more positive. “I just can’t get past it because it’s such an unforced error. I just kind of lost my mind there when I realized I’ve done it again.” Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, Kubota Chevrolet Camaro Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images Both Chastain and Suarez were in the top 15 in average single-lap speed during Friday’s 50-minute practice session, but Chastain was disappointed in his No. 1 Chevrolet’s long-run speed. Chastain came close to advancing to the final round of qualifying on Saturday. He ended up sixth-fastest in his group and will line up 12th to start Sunday’s race. “We’re just focused on finding grip,” he said. “We really struggled just for balance. I just did not feel like I had the grip in the car I needed. “It’s a little bit tough though because we’re coming off the win here last year, so I feel like a lot of my memories are of the really good laps; the laps we were driving away from the field and when we were passing people. It wasn’t as good as I remembered. “We were way too tight coming here. We were sliding the front tires a lot. We made a lot of changes in practice and after, which has not been the norm for the No. 1 car.” Read Also: NASCAR CupDenny Hamlin beats Ty Gibbs to Phoenix Cup pole in all-JGR front row
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