Ross Chastain reacts to 'heartbreaking' NASCAR playoffs elimination at Charlotte: 'Not acceptable'

Ross Chastain is taking full responsibility for being eliminated in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Charlotte on Sunday. After the race, Chastain spoke to NBC Sports about the mistakes he made that prevented him from advancing to the Round of 8.

“I’d restart the whole day. For our Busch Chevy, Trackhouse Racing, they expect so much more out of me,” Ross Chastain said. “To speed on pit road, I went off the end of pit road and didn’t turn. I thought I had more room and just trying to get to the yellow line, and just completely started the downfall there, and then came off out of the pit stall and double-clicked up into third.

“Unforced errors. Just terrible. It’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse… Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this 1 car and drive it, and be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. We definitely had the speed…Not acceptable.”

Chastain made two errors on pit road, but he still had a chance to advance. During the final lap, Chastain was ahead of the cut line and was doing everything he could to not let Joey Logano (the first driver below the cut line) pass him. But on the final lap, Denny Hamlin passed Chastain, which led to Logano passing Chastain in the standings and finishing four points ahead of him.

Ross Chastain will ‘go back to work’ after playoff elimination

When Chastain was speaking to NBC Sports, he said his team gave him everything he needed to make a deep run in the playoffs, but he didn’t deliver. “So I can go to bed knowing that they’re building me the best I can be, but I got to make those right decisions in those moments where I’m not on autopilot, but when I come out of the pit stall, I’m just getting to my lights and I pulled twice,” Chastain said.

“When I went to the end of pit road, I didn’t turn because I wanted to get to the end of the yellow line, and I needed to just turn the wheel. It’s really simple. It’s terrible to get to this level and not perform. When you watch, and you learn, and you study for half your life to get here, to fail is a terrible feeling right now. I will wake up tomorrow and go right back to work.”

Chastain clinched a playoff spot this year after winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May. He was seeking his first championship after finishing second in 2022 and ninth in 2023. Chastain missed the playoffs in 2024 after going winless in the regular season.