At this time in the last two seasons, Ross Chastain was developing a gameplan for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
The same can’t be said this season, as Chastain is in territory he hasn’t been in during his three-year tenure with Trackhouse Racing. Chastain’s playoff hopes aren’t just not guaranteed, but rather they’re hanging on by a thread. After Harrison Burton’s upset victory at Daytona, Chastain is now 27 points below the playoff cutline with only one regular season race remaining.
Simply put, Chastain needs to find a way to get to Victory Lane in next Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington. It’s hardly the situation Chastain wanted to be in, but it’s his reality. Chastain has tallied just two top 10s in 10 career starts at The Lady in Black.
“I look at it like we have another chance to go win the Southern 500. That’s what I’m focused on this week,” Chastain said, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “The points, they give them out at the stages and end of the race. If you run good, they give you a lot of them. I just get excited for a chance to go win the Southern 500.”
Ross Chastain facing must-win situation at Darlington
Chastain was in the mix for a top 10 but was involved in the “big one” on Lap 60. His No. 1 Chevrolet required repairs on pit road and Chastain went a lap down. Chastain had to work his way back from 32nd and was able to post a respectable 12th-place finish.
While far from what Chastain needed, he’s fortunate to have been able to finish the race.
“I was just hoping it would stay running, keep the water in it and be able to keep up with the pack. Looking at the car, it was amazing it did,” Chastain said. “The whole splitter is off of it; dragging the ground. Yeah, it’s pretty incredible that we were even able to finish. I thought the radiator was going to be gone.
‘We’re fortunate to finish, but yeah, as I’m riding around – mainly in Stage 2 when I dropped back from the pack and was going to be the free pass, I thought through all of it then. And then the whole final stage, it was all about trying to execute and maximize what we could.”
