NASCAR at Atlanta column, Part Two: First came the Good and Bad -- now here's the UGLY
EDITOR'S NOTE: Last, but most certainly not least, here is THE UGLY (in boldface capital letters and underlined for emphasis because this part of the story is THAT bad) of Sunday's Cup race:
NASCAR has a problem that continues to raise its ugly head, namely, the driving ability and talent -- if you want to call it talent -- of a certain driver named Ross Chastain.
Yes, the well-known Florida watermelon farmer finished runner-up to Chase Elliott Sunday, but Chastain continues to draw sharp criticism from virtually every circle of the NASCAR world, not just fellow drivers, but now even broadcasters.
Both during and after the race, NBC/USA’s broadcasters were highly critical of Chastain, as he was involved in several incidents that – sooner or later – are going to likely require NASCAR to step in and do something about his over-aggressive driving.
A guy I admire and whose opinion I respect, former NASCAR Cup crew chief turned NBC/USA Network NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte, perhaps said it best with his post-race take on Chastain following his late-race contact with Denny Hamlin:
“I love everything except for that one move with Denny Hamlin. And that’s where Ross Chastain unfortunately is going to have a black eye from this situation because he goes up and catches the 11 and that’s what the fans are going to remember, that’s what Denny is going to remember, that’s what the other competitors are going to remember.
“I love Ross Chastain’s aggression at times, but as a race car driver, you have to be able to turn it on and off. I think that’s the next step for Ross Chastain.”
Now, let’s be clear: there’s nothing wrong with over-aggressive driving as long as you do it smartly and don’t cause problems with other drivers.
But for the millionth time this year – okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it sure SEEMS like a million times, but is closer to probably 10 times or so (I gave up counting after a half-dozen run-ins Chastain has had this season) – Chastain made a wrong move and caused a wreck that cost Hamlin a chance at the win late in Sunday's race.
Up to the point of their contact on Lap 246, Chastain and Hamlin had raced each other fairly clean – although they definitely have a history between them, including a noteworthy incident last month at WorldWide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis where Chastain punted Hamlin.
It happened again Sunday at Atlanta, although Hamlin was able to regain his composure and his car, albeit finishing a disappointing 25th rather than a likely top-5 finish that he appeared headed toward.
Oh yes, and let’s not forget about or discount Chastain’s run-in earlier in Sunday’s race with Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and a gaggle of others. Chastain got into the rear of Truex's car on Lap 91 and that began a Talladega-style "big one" that knocked several drivers out of the race, including Dillon, who finished next-to-last (35th) in the 36-driver field.
An obviously incensed Dillon quipped that he was "just a casualty of Ross Chastain once again."
A story at SportingNews.com reported that Aric Almirola called Chastain "a f---ing idiot" on his team radio.
To his credit, Truex was able to take his car to the pits for repairs (as did Chastain and others) and Truex was able to rebound to an 11th-place finish. Good on Martin for staying out of the post-race verbal fray about Chastain.
Yet, Chastain again didn't take the blame. Rather, he praised his team for getting him back together and ultimately finishing runner-up.
“I took the best car here and tore it up a couple times,” Chastain admitted in a post-race TV interview, although he again refused to admit the wrongness of his own ways. "The pit crew did an awesome job to rebound through all the damage repair.
“We had a shot and I got inside the 9 (eventual winner Chase Elliott) coming off (turn) 2 coming to the checkers, and then the caution came out. I really thought into (turn) 1 that I was going to push him to the win and then they (Corey LaJoie, who lost it on the last lap, leading to a wreck that ended the race under caution) just fought for the top and almost gave it to us.”
Getting back to Hamlin, to his credit the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI team co-owner was much more subdued than he has been at other points in his career, taking an almost laid-back approach to what Chastain did to him Sunday.
But listen to/read what Hamlin had to say, and you can almost hear the wheels in his mind already turning with potential revenge coming. It’s just a matter of when -- and what he potentially can get away with under NASCAR's microscope.
“It all just works out in the end,” Hamlin said in an uncharacteristic fashion. “I said my piece the first time around (at St. Louis) and nothing really has changed this time.
“I made sure I gave plenty of room up on the high side. I think Ross probably saw we were going to clear and it probably wasn’t going to be good for his positioning. It’s just a bad day for us.”
Frankly, it seems like it’s almost getting to the point where the list of drivers Chastain has had incidents with this season is approaching more than those he hasn’t had incidents with.
Of course, there’s still 17 races left to go, so anything is possible.
And also don’t forget that NASCAR drivers have memories like elephants. Those who have been wronged by Chastain this season – particularly if they get knocked out of the playoffs and he continues into the second, third or even championship round – are not going to forget his indiscretions.
If that happens, you should go to Las Vegas and bet the farm that someone Chastain has wronged this season will claim to have an “oops, my bad” moment that potentially will knock Chastain out of a race or cost him a chance at advancing to the next round -- or potentially even cost him the Cup championship if he gets into contention for it in the season finale at Phoenix.
Remember, what goes around, comes around. And that is likely no truer in this world than in NASCAR.
Sure, this is really the first season Chastain has had the kind of success he’s enjoyed in the Cup Series, with his first two wins and 10 top-five finishes thus far in 2022, after just his first three top-5s ever only coming last season with Chip Ganassi Racing. CGR sold its assets during the offseason to Trackhouse Racing, which decided to keep Chastain as one of its two drivers along with teammate Daniel Suarez.
So yes, Chastain is over-aggressive and maybe he’s a bit over-excited about the success he’s having this year. He's kind of like a kid in a candy store, trying to get a lick at everything on the shelves.
But if he continues to make the same stupid mistakes he’s made – and continues to tick off so many of his fellow drivers – all of the good that he may wind up accomplishing this year will potentially come up short when it comes championship time. Somebody he’s already burned is almost certain to extract payback at some point.
As was mentioned on the TV broadcast, Chastain will undoubtedly have a bullseye on his back the rest of the season. Even if he apologizes yet again for what is almost a given, those words are likely going to once again sound very hollow and have very little to no meaning anymore unless he changes his way completely.
Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen – and it’s going to evolve into another ugly situation, where Chastain will only have to learn from experience, since he obviously hasn’t learned much from the stupid mistakes he’s made far too often this year.
When asked if there’ll be retaliation, Hamlin gave a very un-Hamlin-like answer. Instead of letting loose with a few choice words (an f-bomb or two would certainly have been undertandable if Hamlin went there), the driver of the now-wrecked No. 11 simply said:
“Things just work themselves out in the end. We certainly aren’t cutting any breaks going forward. As a driver, you make decisions. I’ve talked about those decisions and eventually you have to pay for those decisions that you make.
“Whatever happens in the future, happens. But we’re going to be racing each other pretty hard for the rest of the year.”
That sounds like there’s even more ugly racing coming up and Chastain is going to ultimately be the victim, rather than what he has been far too many times this year: namely, the victimizer.