Christopher Bell and William Byron may have been the top drivers in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 in Kansas, but the trophy seemed like it preferred to be with anybody out of contention for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
After a fairly nondescript start to his day, Ross Chastain found himself in the lead to start the third and final stage at Kansas Speedway. He had missed the playoffs after failing to win a race as did Kyle Busch, who ran right behind him. The two traded the lead multiple times as the race crossed the 200-lap mark.
Although playoff drivers Bell and Tyler Reddick managed to lead some laps, they were mainly a result of the pit cycle when the leaders pitted. Once the stops were complete, Chastain, Busch, and the eliminated Brad Keselowski looked stout.
Busch was desperate for any kind of good fortune amidst an otherwise disastrous season by his standards, sitting 20th in points and on the verge of losing his 19-year streak of Cup Series campaigns without a victory. Unfortunately, his luck ran out yet again when he spun on Lap 237 from the lead.
“I’m numb. I don’t know what to do,” Busch succinctly admitted after the race.
After another yellow flag on Lap 244 for Carson Hocevar’s wreck, Keselowski hoped to play spoiler after being eliminated in the Round of 16 a week prior. To do this, he opted not to pit during the caution. Although this placed him in first for the ensuing restart, he was quickly overtaken by everyone else and ultimately finished 22nd.
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Martin Truex Jr., who was also knocked out in the first round, quickly passed Keselowski and had to hold off an onslaught led by Chastain. Had things worked in Truex’s favour, he would have been assured at least a trophy in his final season before retirement.
It was not meant to be for him either as Chastain’s car proved to be significantly faster. Chastain passed him for the lead on Lap 247.
“Just not quite good enough on the short runs all day on the restarts,” Truex commented. “It took us 10 to 15 laps to get going. A couple of those guys could get by us, so that’s kind of what happened there. The #1 (Chastain) and the #24 (William Bryon) got away and then we were catching them back, but just ran out of time.”
With Chastain in the lead, he needed to keep the points leader Byron at bay for the final 20 laps. Byron gradually closed the margin between them before attempting a final charge on the inside as they entered Turn 3, but came nowhere close to catching the #1.
Byron cited clean air for being what kept Chastain so far ahead of him, explaining he felt Chastain “got the restart he needed to, and I was in the second row just trying to clear those guys. Once I got clear of them, my balance was okay. Just a little bit tight, but just kind of inching up on him. I needed probably for it to be a longer run being in second.”
Win a much-needed break for Chastain
Chastain is one of the most popular Cup Series drivers today, owing to his aggressive driving style and most notably the “Hail Melon” move that clinched him a spot in the 2022 Championship Round.
However, while his 2024 season is statistically comparable to 2023 in which he finished 9th in points, he missed the playoffs as he was unable to win a race during the first 26 races.
He was 14th in points entering the last event of the regular season, but was on the outside because drivers behind him in the standings like Harrison Burton had won to qualify. Chase Briscoe claimed the 16th and final playoff spot by winning the finale at Darlington.
Unable to contend for a title, all Chastain can do now is support his Trackhouse Racing team-mate Daniel Suárez‘s playoff effort and race for pride. To finally go to Victory Lane in what is otherwise a letdown season was not only a relief for him as a driver, but it gives him some peace of mind as he tries to ease himself down to alleviate stress.
“I have a process, but the process is always evolving,” began Chastain. “I can lump anything into it that I think is going to help me be a better race car driver. Although the inputs, the effort is there, the results do not come.
“That’s live sports. That’s football, baseball, basketball, soccer, anything around the world sports I might want to even know about or definitely I don’t understand, NASCAR included.
“You can try as hard as you want, and it does not mean that you’re going to be faster, but I know that if I show up Monday morning and try and Tuesday morning and try and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and sometimes trying and being the most benefit for the team and for your race car and the performance is actually to go to sleep early.
“It’s not to get that extra workout in. It’s not to try harder in the gym. It’s actually to taper off, and that’s something that I’ve learned and have put into my life. Sometimes it’s going to sleep early. Yesterday was a big part of why I can actually perform better today.
“I took a snack in the car. I kept looking at it, but I wasn’t ready for it, and then all of a sudden we were in the last restart, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to eat it now.’
“The winless streaks are something that get talked about. Ours wasn’t quite enough to get talked about. If we didn’t win this year, I’m sure the room would have talked about it.
“I learned about that last year when we won Phoenix, and I had the whole offseason to let it marinate. I just let that sink in, and I thought it would be easier. I really did.
“I thought we had found some stuff, but that wasn’t the case. That will not be the mindset through this offseason.”
