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Ross Chastain finishes Charlotte ROVAL in reverse, falls short of advancing to Round of 8

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes10/05/25NickGeddesNews
Ross Chastain
Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ross Chastain went for a video game-like move on the final lap of Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL. He needed one to advance to the Round of 8, but he ultimately came up short.

After Denny Hamlin passed Chastain on the final lap, the latter was now tied with Joey Logano for the final transfer spot. Logano owned the tiebreaker over Chastain, so this was bad news for the No. 1 team. But on the final turn, Chastain went for it. He went in deep in an effort to get by Hamlin, sending them both spinning.

Chastain didn’t stop there. He went full Ricky Bobby, crossing the start/finish line in reverse.

Unfortunately for Chastain, that image of him in reverse will long be shown in highlight packages. But it wasn’t a happy ending for him.

Multiple cars passed him after the spin, sealing his fate. Chastain is out of the playoffs. His championship hopes? Over, done, finished. It hurts for Chastain, who committed multiple unforced errors at the ROVAL.

Ross Chastain heartbroken to not advance in NASCAR playoffs

Early in the race, he missed the turn at the exit of pit road. He then got caught speeding entering pit road on his last stop of the day in Stage 3. He managed to back ahead of Logano in the points, but he opted not to pit again. Chastain began bleeding spots — one by one — allowing the points gap to close quickly. He lost it for good on that final lap.

“I’d restart the whole day,” Chastain said after the race when asked what he would have done differently. “For Trackhouse Racing, they expect so much more out of me. And to speed on pit road, I went off the end of pit road and didn’t turn. I had more room and just trying to get to the yellow line. and just completely started the downfall there and then came out of the pit stall and double clicked up into third [gear] and just unforced errors. It’s just terrible.

“So, it’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse, our teammates, our ECR engines. Everybody that makes this go around. Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and to be the leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. So, yeah, not acceptable. Like, just completely unacceptable.”