Chastain, who has found himself in the center of controversy several times over the past year in the NASCAR Cup Series, lost a chance at his first win of the 2023 season at the end of the May 14 race at Darlington.
Larson squeezed Chastain into the wall on a restart with 13 laps remaining as he tried to hold on to his lead. On the next restart, Chastain attempted a similar move to try and halt Larson’s advance, but this time both cars were wrecked and lost the opportunity for a victory.
Chastain, 30, received a lot of criticism, particularly from Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon and Larson’s team owner Rick Hendrick.
In the days after, Chastain’s co-owner at Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, also had a meeting with Chastain to discuss how to avoid similar incidents in the future. At the time, Chastain described the advice as, “Stop hitting things.”
Falling off since Darlington criticism
In the three races since Darlington, Chastain has finished 22nd, 22nd and 10th and dropped from first to third in the series standings.
He has already shown he has a fast No. 1 Chevrolet this weekend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and anxious to capitalize on it.
“I’m definitely learned from Darlington and correct myself to win races,” Chastain said. “Whatever I can do to wreck less and win more will definitely be top in my mind and my priority.
“I take what people say to heart, especially my boss, my owner, the guy that hired me and guides me. He’s a racer himself and we talk as racers and buddies just as much as we talk as owner and driver.
“People can think what they want. I know what our path is, has been and is currently and what we’re planning. I’m totally comfortable in the spot we’re in.”
Even without a win year this season, Chastain has been the most consistent driver at Trackhouse so far. He’s led a lot (348 laps) and has one runner-up finish (at Dover) and a pair of thirds.
Chastain certainly isn’t in danger of missing the Cup playoffs at this time, but he and his team would welcome the certainty one or more victories would provide before the conclusion of the regular season.
“The more points the better,” Chastain said. “But we want to win, that’s the focus. That’s the goal. That’s the objective and that’s where our sights our set.”
