Trackhouse struggles continue, Kansas a prime example

As Ross Chastain said on Saturday, “the Band-Aid is off” and with the speed all three cars had at Kansas yesterday, there’s a true possibility they all could miss the Chase come September. Statistics wise, its looking pretty bad.

On Sunday, all three Trackhouse cars finished at least two laps down with Ross Chastain in 26th, Connor Zilisch in 29th and Shane Van Gisbergen in 34th, four laps behind race winner Tyler Reddick.

It’s not even just a Kansas issue. Pace has been an issue all year so far for Trackhouse.

Chastain has only one top-10 finish at Atlanta, where he finished third, but has no top-10s on non-drafting tracks, compared to five total after nine races last season.

Meanwhile, Zilisch has had a rough start to the year. Currently 33rd in points, he has only two top-20 finishes (Circuit of the Americas and Darlington). The struggles were evident Sunday at Kansas where Zilisch couldn’t turn well.

Crew chief Randall Burnett reportedly indicated the team is struggling with the balance and setups needed for Zilisch to have a successful rookie campaign. Burnett also indicated that, like other teams, they’re still figuring out the new Chevrolet body.

As for Shane van Gisbergen, he had two top-10s in the first nine races (Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas) but three of the last five races have seen him finish 34th or worse.

The good news for SVG and Zilisch though is that Watkins Glen iS in three weeks.

However, if the momentum were to come from a win by either of them, the team is reportedly lacking direction behind the scenes. For instance, Ty Norris, who helped form Trackhouse with owner Justin Marks, left for Kaulig Racing in 2024.

If Trackhouse is going to start looking like a championship-contending team again, change is going to need to come fast.