Ross Chastain reacts to incident with Michael McDowell at Indianapolis: 'I got ran into'

Ross Chastain is out early of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after hitting the wall in Turn 3 on Lap 17. The replay showed that Michael McDowell might have gotten into the back of Chastain in the corner, and the Trackhouse Racing driver agreed.

“I went into Turn 3 and think I got ran into,” Chastain told TNT Sports. “Tough weekend for our Busch Light Lime Chevy. Felt the same balance wise and grip wise as the next couple cars in front of us. Just plugging along and yeah, we’ll take this one and go to Iowa.”

Ross Chastain crashes out on lap 18.@AlwaysRaceDay pic.twitter.com/OweFYddrVO

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) July 27, 2025

Chastain, who qualified 33rd, was running 34th at the time of the contact with McDowell. It simply wasn’t Chastain’s weekend at the “Racing Capital of the World,” and he’ll leave Indianapolis with a last place finish.

For that, he has McDowell to thank. The Spire Motorsports driver did, however, acknowledge he made a mistake in shipping Chastain.

“Darn it, man. Didn’t mean to do that,” McDowell said on his radio, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “Just didn’t think he’d jump on the binders that hard.”

Ross Chastain’s summer struggles continue at Indianapolis

This has been a brutal summer stretch for Chastain. Since his Coca-Cola 600 win in late May, he’s compiled just two top 10s in nine races. Qualifying has continued to be an issue for the No. 1 team, and the speed hasn’t been enough to compete. Chastain grinded out quality finishes earlier this season, but it’s been a struggle to do that of late.

Chastain will fall further in the points standings after this one. With the playoffs quickly approaching, Chastain needs to turn it around fast.