Ross Chastain came into Pocono hoping for something positive. The Trackhouse driver, so far still winless in 2024, held onto the final Playoff spot on points when the day started.
When it was over, he was on the outside of the Playoff field looking in.
Granted his weekend didn’t start out on an encouraging note. On Saturday he was only able to earn a 19th starting spot. Sunday he wasn’t able to make any inroad in the field. He was running 21st on lap 53 when his Chevy spun into the wall ending his day.
Despite reports that he was having issues with his steering just before the crash, Chastain said that wasn’t what caused his issue.
“I just flat spun out,” he said. “We were all sliding around, but I just spun out.”
It goes without saying that Chastain was irritated with himself.
“It felt like it happened in slow motion.,” he said. “Yeah, obviously frustrated with myself, but can’t take it back now.”
As for his spot in the Playoffs, Chastain seemed to be less concerned about that moving forward.
“I’m just worried about why I spun out,” he said. “I’m a racecar driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, I shouldn’t be doing that. You don’t see us do that too often, so when I do it myself, I’m as surprised as everybody else.”
In the end he seemed to take full blame.
“They’re Cup cars, they can always spin out,” Chastain said. “But we’re supposed to be good enough to catch it.”
Bubba Wallace, who sits just behind Chastain in the Playoff standings, finished 10th Sunday. While Chastain still holds the final transfer spot in the standings, his lead ahead of Wallace has narrowed giving him little room for another DNF.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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