It only required a mad scramble on the final lap that resulted in plenty of contact and anger, but Ross Chastain can finally call himself a NASCAR Cup Series race winner. A wild run to the finish between him, A.J. Allmendinger, and Alex Bowman ended with all three drivers bumping each other and Allmendinger eventually spinning while Chastain held on to win for the first time in the premier series and on a road course.
Chastain started sixteenth while Ryan Blaney was on the pole. Daniel Suárez, Chastain’s partner at Trackhouse Racing Team, qualified second and dominated the opening stage en route to the win. Blaney, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, and Austin Cindric rounded out the top ten.
Despite Suárez’s day getting off to a strong start, power steering problems began to plague his #99 car as the stage came to an end. He eventually fell off the pace as his power steering was eliminated, forcing him to fight the car to what would eventually be a twenty-fourth. With Suárez out of the picture, Cindric dominated Stage #2 before pitting which cycled Denny Hamlin into the lead and eventual stage victory. Kyle Busch, Logano, Blaney, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, Burton, Chastain, Cindric, and Bubba Wallace followed.
While the first two stages ran caution-free, the incidents necessitating yellow flags ramped up in the final segment with six cautions being called. Combined with a lack of local cautions in NASCAR, the first five were all for debris or single-car stalls or spins too close to the rest of the racing. The sixth and largest came on the penultimate scheduled lap when Logano, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson made contact and went into the gravel and wall outside turn one.
In overtime, Saturday’s Xfinity Series winner Allmendinger battled with Chastain and Tyler Reddick. Chastain held the advantage through the first lap while Allmendinger and Bowman gave chase before catching him in the final sector. Allmendinger made his move in turn fifteen and pushed Chastain wide, and Bowman joined the fight with a dive along the inside line two corners later. Allmendinger and Chastain made up the ground before the latter pushed the other into Bowman, causing Allmendinger to spin. As Bowman ran wide to avoid further collision with the spinning Allmendinger, Chastain remained inside and held the lead for the final two straights to score his and Trackhouse’s maiden victories.
In securing the win, Chastain becomes one of thirty-nine drivers with a victory in each of NASCAR’s three national series. He is the seventeenth driver to score his first career Cup win on a road course, a title that is held by three other drivers in the EchoPark Grand Prix field (Allmendinger at Watkins Glen 2014, Elliott at Watkins Glen 2018, and Christopher Bell at Daytona RC 2021).
“To go up against some of the best with A.J., I know he is going to be upset with me, but we raced hard, both of us, and he owes me one,” Chastain told FOX Sports. “But when it comes to a Cup win, I can’t let that go down without a fight.”
Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images
Despite the celebratory nature, others were not as thrilled about Chastain’s conduct. Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing team tweeted that Chastain “[h]ad to wreck us to beat us”, to which Trackhouse responded with a “Come on now….” before Kaulig eventually issued congratulations. Had Allmendinger won, he would have become the first driver to reach double-digit national series road course triumphs.
“At the end of the day, each person has to make the move that they’re comfortable with, and that’s fine,” Allmendinger told FOX. “We know we had a shot to win the race. It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself in a position to legitimately run up front all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately, we needed about two more corners.”
Chastain was aware of his driving style coming to the finish and acknowledged the impact it would have on his relationship with Allmendinger. The two are close friends and previously Xfinity team-mates at Kaulig in 2020.
“I don’t race anybody any different,” he continued in his post-race press conference. “I’ve cost A.J. a win at Daytona in the Xfinity Series, and he was obviously a quarter mile away from winning here. He has taught me a lot, and I’m sure that our friendship will hurt for this. I feel like I had started to win some of his friendship back, and just being nice to each other when you see each other. It took a while.
“I hate that because I’ve lived through that in my career for twelfth place in Xfinity. I’ve fought, and I’ve roughed people up and gotten into people. I’ve wrecked (Trackhouse owner) Justin Marks. He was going to win Road America in 2016, 2017. I wrecked him and James Davison for no reason. It’s not lost on me that I make some of the same mistakes. It’s just staring down a Cup Series win. I just couldn’t let that go.”
Bowman’s advice for Chastain? Alluding to his own actions following run-ins with Hamlin at Martinsville in 2021 and Busch at Las Vegas a few weeks ago (the two also tangled in Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series event) in his interview with FOX’s Bob Pockrass: “Put it on a t-shirt and sell the hell out of it.”
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 16 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 2 | 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 3 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 69 | Running |
| 4 | 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 5 | 4 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 6 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 7 | 17 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 69 | Running |
| 8 | 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 9 | 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 10 | 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 11 | 18 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 12 | 24 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 13 | 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 14 | 26 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 15 | 9 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 16 | 29 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 17 | 19 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 18 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 69 | Running |
| 19 | 25 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 20 | 33 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 21 | 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 22 | 34 | 77 | Josh Bilicki* | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 23 | 3 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 24 | 2 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 25 | 31 | 50 | Kaz Grala* | The Money Team Racing | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 26 | 37 | 66 | Boris Said | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 27 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 28 | 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 69 | Running |
| 29 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | Running |
| 30 | 14 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 31 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 69 | Running |
| 32 | 11 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 69 | Running |
| 33 | 20 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger* | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 68 | Running |
| 34 | 36 | 27 | Loris Hezemans* | Team Hezeberg | Ford | 62 | Rear Gear |
| 35 | 38 | 15 | Joey Hand | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 60 | Suspension |
| 36 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 57 | Engine |
| 37 | 28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 52 | Drivetrain |
| 38 | 23 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 44 | Suspension |
| 39 | 39 | 78 | Andy Lally* | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 19 | Suspension |
* – Ineligible for Cup points