Ross Chastain on Spinning Elliott at COTA: I Wish I Hadn't Done it
Ross Chastain has been one of the most aggressive drivers on the racetrack since entering the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2021. And while it has drawn the ire of many competitors along the way, Chastain has also used his on-track aggression to collect five NASCAR Cup Series wins and nearly took home a championship in 2022.
However, last Sunday in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Chastain's aggression went over the line as he made an intense move in Turn 1 on the opening lap of the race, a move that if successful would have moved him from ninth to inside the top-five.
The end result was Chastain locking up his brakes, and sliding directly into the left rear quarterpanel of Chase Elliott's No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which sent Elliott spinning outside of the top-five.
GREEN FLAG and ... that didn't take long 👀 Chase Elliott probably isn't very happy right now. pic.twitter.com/5DZ0TGJiTT
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 2, 2025
While Chastain left COTA without addressing the incident, he spoke about it from his perspective during a media scrum availability at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday.
Chastain shouldered the fact that he made an unforced error on the opening lap, and says he wishes he could have it back. The Trackhouse Racing driver says he has spoken to Elliott about the move, and has apologized.
"I just went to the bottom of [Kyle Larson]. Error, bad decision to go to the inside of [Larson] after I went to the inside of [Daniel Suarez]. I wish I [hadn't] done it," Chastain admitted. "I told Chase that, cleared the air there."
While it looked egregious to those watching on TV, and I'm sure it looked over-the-line to Chastain's competitors, who he breezed by, and it certainly felt like it was too much to Elliott, who was sent spinning as a result of the failed move, Chastain says he didn't feel like he had gained enough speed heading into Turn 1 to lock up his brakes.
"Incorrectly, I thought we were slow enough with the way [Tyler Reddick] launched late in the [restart] box. I felt slow down the front[stretch], so, I thought I had plenty of ability to brake," Chastain explained. "I was good, initially, and then I started locking [up the brakes]. I was too fast. I just needed to be behind [Larson]."
Chastain, who had a talking to from Rick Hendrick after the Darlington Throwback Race in 2023 where Chastain crashed with Kyle Larson in an aggressive move for the race lead, has made a concerted effort to reign his aggression in over the last couple of seasons. The driver says Sunday's incident at COTA was simply a misjudgment, and an embarrassment he'll carry for quite some time.
"When I watched the overhead view, yeah, I'm the outlier. I'm the furthest left, and I'm the fastest. So, yeah, it was an error," Chastain noted. "When I went inside of [Larson], I thought we were slow enough from the restart zone, and that was not the case. I get to take that, and I need to live with that. But yeah, from the outside, it doesn't look good. The intention was -- it was an error, a big error to go bottom of [Larson]. That was not necessary."
As for why he didn't talk to the media about the incident following last weekend's race, Chastain said he didn't have all of the facts about the situation lined up, and preferred to see what had happened before potentially speaking out of turn about the incident.
"Yeah, a lot more comfortable [talking about it now] than getting out of the car and not seeing a replay," Chastain said. "I'd rather look at the facts, and I only had my one view, and we don't discuss that stuff on the radio. Just the way I do my business."
Chastain will roll from the 24th starting spot in Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. While the driver hopes to work his way to the front, and ultimately wants to score his second career win at the 1-mile oval in Avondale, AZ, don't expect him to try to win the race in Turn 1 this weekend.
The Shriners Children's 500 is set for Sunday, March 9 and will be televised by FS1 with coverage kicking off at 3:30 PM ET. The race will be able to be streamed from the FOX Sports App with a valid cable subscription login.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.