Chastain gets hometown win for Trackhouse at Nashville
LEBANON, TENN. — Ross Chastain ended weeks of controversy and struggles with a hometown win Sunday for Trackhouse Racing at Nashville Superspeedway.
Chastain drew ire from Rick Hendrick and others after a controversial wreck at Darlington. After that, the Trackhouse racer showed little speed and finished 22nd twice and 10th at Sonoma.
Sunday was different. He led 99 of 300 laps (most) and earned his third NASCAR Cup Series win after several challenges from Martin Truex Jr.
This is Chastain’s first Cup Series win on a non-draft-dependent track. It’s also his first win since Talladega in April 2022 and Circuit of the Americas in March 2022.
Truex settled for second, 0.789 seconds back. He lost stage two to teammate Denny Hamlin but then dogged him and leapfrogged him on pit road.
The two-time winner in 2023 couldn’t make it three as he admittedly overdrove the car after green-flag pit stops.
Hamlin finished third, won stage two and led three times for 81 laps, the second-most behind Chastain. Chastain passed him for the final on-track lead change with 70 laps to go.
For the first time in 2023, Erik Jones and A.J. Allmendinger each earned their first top-10 finish on a non-draft-dependent oval. They finished 8th and 10th Sunday, respectively.
The top 10 is as follows: Chastain, Truex, Hamlin, Chase Elliott (led one lap), Kyle Larson, William Byron (led twice for 5 laps), Christopher Bell (led 3 laps), Jones, Kyle Busch (led 12 laps), Allmendinger
Through the Field
Ryan Blaney finished 36th and was the only driver who didn’t finish the race. Instead, his race ended with a hard, head-on hit on lap 148 restart when the field slowed in front of him.
Blaney hit a non-SAFER barrier part of the wall. At the infield care center, he candidly told reporters, “I’d pay for the f-cking thing myself.”
Kevin Harvick finished 24th after having a flat right-rear tire while challenging the top three before green-flag stops.
Tyler Reddick started second and won stage one but finished 30th, two laps down. He spun on lap 140 after his right-rear wheel fell off.
Stage Results
First stage: Reddick, Chastain, Byron, Truex, Hamlin, Elliott, Busch, Larson, bell, Allmendinger
Second stage: Hamlin, Truex, Chastain, Byron, Bell, Bubba Wallace, Elliott, Allmendinger, Harvick, Jones
Playoff Bubble
Brad Keselowski (+99 points), Chris Buescher (+98), Bubba Wallace (+30), Daniel Suarez (+2), Alex Bowman (-2 points), Ty Gibbs (-10), A.J. Allmendinger (-24), Michael McDowell (-27), Corey LaJoie (-45), Austin Cindric (-51), Justin Haley (-55), Ryan Preece (-63), Chase Elliott (-64)
What’s Next?
Nine races remain until the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, including three road/street courses. The first one is the Chicago Street Course, where the series races next July 2 (Broadcast: NBC, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; 5:30 p.m. ET)
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com