Ross Chastain did not let the criticism over the first half of the 2023 season get him down.
Chastain qualified for the postseason by passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, then winning Sunday night’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.
With 75 laps to go in the 300-lap race, Chastain ran third in his No. 1 Chevrolet, owned by Trackhouse Racing, which got its start in the Music City, behind Hamlin and Truex.
But with his car working better on longer runs, the Alva, Fla., native passed the pair and pitted for the final time with 59 laps to go.
Chastain held an advantage over the two Toyotas for his first win of 2023 and third of his career in 168 NASCAR Cup Series starts, qualifying him for the 10-race championship playoff.
Last month at Darlington Raceway, Chastain and Kyle Larson tangled and wrecked from the front row with six laps to go. That incident drew criticism of Chastain’s aggressive style from Trackhouse owner Justin Marks and many others in the sport.
“This is why (for) every little kid out there, anywhere in the world, when you get criticized — and you’re going to if you’re competitive — they will try to tear you down,” said Chastain, who led a race-high 99 laps. “You will start believing it, (and) you can’t do it. You have to go to your people, trust in the process … and just keep getting up and going to work.”
Truex and Hamlin finished second and third, respectively, while Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five in the race that featured just four cautions.
After missing the Sonoma road race with concussion-like symptoms suffered in the St. Louis race the week before, Noah Gragson returned and finished 26th in his No. 42 Chevrolet.
In the 17th race on the schedule and just the third in Cup history at the 1.33-mile concrete track, Chastain paced the way after putting his Camaro onto the pole for the first time in the 30-year-old Floridian’s career.
Tyler Reddick, who started on Row 1 with Chastain, used his No. 45 Toyota to run down Chastain, grabbed the lead on Lap 62 and cruised on to the Stage 1 win for the top bonus points.
Reddick brought out the race’s second caution when his right-rear tire came off a lap after he pitted, and Ryan Blaney wrecked hard on the frontstretch on the ensuing restart for the third yellow flag.
JGR teammates Hamlin and Truex ran 1-2 in their Toyotas for most of the second stage.
Hamlin’s No. 11 eventually held off Truex’s No. 19 for the stage win on Lap 185, setting up the final 115 circuits in a battle between the two Camry drivers and Chastain.
“I just think we had a third-place car,” Hamlin said. “I thought the 19 (Truex) was a little better and obviously the 1 (Chastain) came on really strong there at the end.
“Just didn’t have quite a fast enough car to go for the win.”
–Field Level Media
