Ross Chastain puts NASCAR on notice after Phoenix win: 'We're not going away'
We are in an era of “disruptors” it seems. NASCAR doesn’t have Tesla or Uber, but they have Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing. Chastain and Trackhouse over the last two years have completely put their mark on the Cup Series.
Team owner Justin Marks along with co-owner Pitbull, are not your usual team owners. Marks is a former driver, and that makes sense. Then you have Pitbull, Mr. Worldwide, the pop star. It’s worked.
Trackhouse Racing is kind of the Bad Boy Pistons in a way for the Cup Series. They race hard, and aggressively, and they’ve caused a fair amount of damage on the track – but they win. They compete very well. Trackhouse also happens to be cool, just like those Pistons teams.
They’re also the team of the future as they bring international stars to the sport. Project 91, Kimi Raikkonen, Shane van Gisbergen – all of it comes together.
After spoiling the party at Phoenix, Ross Chastain let everyone know they aren’t going to go away any time soon.
“We’re not going away. Like, we’re disruptive on track usually by my driving, but it goes with the disruptiveness of Justin and (co-owner) Pitbull and our leadership team doing things different, having a real presence in Nashville, keeping a presence there on Broadway for something outside of Charlotte and Concord and the Lake Norman area,” Chastain said, via NASCAR.com. “Our shop’s in Concord and all of our employees are there except for Justin and the brain trust of the marketing side.
“Yeah, I just love that we’re staying here and we’re continuing to be fast. Our processes are working. We trust ’em and we continue to see it through.”
Ross Chastain doesn’t care what you think, he’s just going to race hard and compete for wins.
Ross Chastain had another good season in 2023
As far as we can tell, Justin Marks and Ross Chastain are happy about this past season. 2023 wasn’t as good as 2022. Chastain won two races again this year. However, in 2022, he had more top-5s and top-10s than he did this season.
Of course, Chastain also didn’t make it as far in the playoffs. A Championship 4 to 9th overall in the standings. I think winning Phoenix was very important heading into the offseason. And Chastain is right, Trackhosue isn’t going anywhere.
Next year, SVG is coming for his development year. Zane Smith will be racing for Trackhouse Racing through a Spire Motorsports third charter. And the Melon Man and his amigo Daniel Suárez are both back to put pressure on other drivers and piss some people off in the process.
After seeing Ross Chastain dominate at Phoenix to end 2023, I’d be nervous if I were the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field. He’s proven he can win at the track, let’s see if he can get back in championship contention and do it again.