Ross Chastain torches himself for his poor driving
Mar 20, 2022; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain during the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Ross Chastain was persona non grata during the NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis on Sunday.
Chastain had incidents with both Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott during the race.
Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet bumped Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and sent Hamlin into the wall, leading to a caution on lap 64.
"Denny is not gonna be happy about that." 👀
Contact from Ross Chastain sends Denny Hamlin into the wall at Gateway. https://t.co/5AReaSwuvG pic.twitter.com/S3rwcPvwVy
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2022
Hamlin responded by trying to muscle Chastain’s No. 1 car out of the way in the ensuing laps.
Later in the race, Chastain bumped Chase Elliott, leading to a caution on lap 101.
"I mean, what was [Chastain] doing? He ran me over getting into [Turn] 3 and then ran me over again."- Chase Elliott https://t.co/R4rtxNmc9L pic.twitter.com/tOUUL069YG
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2022
Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy responded by pushing Chastain multiple times.
Chastain finished 8th, while Elliott was 21st and Hamlin 34th.
After the race, Chastain acknowledged the error of his ways. He owned his mistakes with some extremely critical comments.
“It was terrible driving, Jamie,” Chastain admitted to FOX reporter Jamie Little. “It’s one thing to do it once, but I just kept driving into guys. At this level, I’m supposed to be better than that.
“I owe half the field an apology. Words aren’t going to fix it. So I’ll have to pay for it on the track. I deserve everything that they do.
“I can’t believe that I continue to make the same mistakes,” Chastain said.
"I owe half the field an apology … I can't believe that I continue to make the same mistakes."@JamieLittleTV talks with Ross Chastain after his run-ins with competitors at Gateway. pic.twitter.com/o3XicpVLJ0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2022
