Summarizing Ross Chastain’s performance at the ROVAL as mere “heartbreak” would be a colossal understatement. As the sole representative for Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR playoffs, the Alva, Florida, native was gutted after being eliminated. Despite significant progress in the opening laps, he finished well behind his teammates, race-winner Shane van Gisbergen and Daniel Suarez.
However, the loss wasn’t the only thing that made headlines. The No. 1 driver’s late-race collision with Denny Hamlin has landed him in hot water, with racing experts calling for immediate and strict penalties for the carnage.
Why Are Experts Demanding Action Against Ross Chastain’s ROVAL Antics?
Entering Sunday’s road-course event, Chastain sat in ninth place, 13 points below the cutoff line. “The Watermelon Man” fought hard to keep his championship hopes alive, battling with defending champion Joey Logano. Ultimately, a series of mistakes on pit road and a desperate move on the final lap sealed his fate, knocking him out of contention before the Round of 8.
In the opening stage, the Trackhouse driver showed determination, earning six stage points with a fifth-place finish. Meanwhile, Logano, the three-time and defending Cup champion, scored none, which narrowed the gap to just seven points. Chastain continued to fight through a pit road mishap in Stage 2, further reducing the deficit to only three points.
Unfortunately, a moment of desperation in the waning laps led to a collision. He wrecked Hamlin’s No. 11 and got spun around himself. Ultimately, Chastain finished 21st, well behind race winner SVG and his No. 99 teammate Suarez, who finished seventh.
With the race over and Chastain eliminated, experts are weighing in on his late-race shenanigans with Hamlin. Renowned racing reporter Jordan Bianchi argued that such actions cannot be ignored.
Speaking on “The Teardown” podcast, he noted, “If you look at all of the things that happened last year at Martinsville, and the talk and conversation about integrity, and the way NASCAR’s kind of policed things now a little bit, I think you have to come down heavy on that. You can’t let that go.”
“There has to be a line in the sand,” he added. Citing an incident involving Austin Dillon at Richmond, Bianchi continued, “I think they would have looked at last year at Austin Dillon at Richmond as the case study: how do we handle this? We can’t just have somebody cleaning somebody out. I think they would have, and I don’t even think it would have been hesitant. I don’t even think they would have waited on it. I think it would have been a pretty clear-cut call.”
Meanwhile, team owner Justin Marks stopped short of blaming his driver outright but suggested that such actions should be avoided. He emphasized the need for better judgment and an improved strategy on pit road.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it was a bit self-inflicted today on the No. 1 team. We shouldn’t have been in the position that we were in, having to fight for one point on the last lap and having to throw Hail Mary’s and all that stuff.”
“We need to be better on pit road, we need to eliminate the mistakes that were made today so we weren’t in that position,” he stated in the post-race press conference.
With Chastain out of the playoffs and opinions divided, the debate over on-track conduct is far from settled. What do you think NASCAR should do? Let us know in the comments below.