After an aggressive performance Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ first race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Ross Chastain made a couple on-track enemies. Despite his eighth-place finish, the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet racer even said “it was terrible driving” on his part.
But the co-owner of Chastain’s team, Justin Marks — Pitbull is the other owner — feels a little differently about how his driver raced and the subsequent feuds his style ignited. And, in fact, Marks is “here for it.”
Although Chastain took responsibility for tangling with Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott during the Gateway race, Marks defended his driver’s actions afterward and expanded on his perspective during an interview Monday with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Marks noted that Chastain, as a young driver in only his fourth full-time Cup season, still needs to figure out the “dance and the balance” of racing at NASCAR’s highest level but applauded his effort.
“I’m proud of his aggression,” Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think he probably beat himself up a little bit too much after the race over it. I don’t want to see cars wreck. We certainly don’t want to see that. But I just, I don’t know. I don’t want him to slow down or take any aggression away because it’s exciting for all of us to watch.”
Can confirm: Hamlin is not happy with Ross Chastain https://t.co/u9MWVk4SUM pic.twitter.com/Do223qdZL6
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2022
Sure, it is exciting. But Hamlin made it clear after Sunday’s race that Chastain — one of four drivers with two wins so far this season — should expect some on-track payback.
“This sport is self-policing, and usually when you least suspect it and when it means the most is when it comes back around,” Hamlin said Sunday.
Still, Marks is on board with the drama and feuds.
.@dennyhamlin has vowed payback on @RossChastain post-Gateway, and @TeamTrackhouse co-owner @JustinMarksTH is "here for it." 👀
💭 "There's a lot of time we spend telling everybody what we're gonna do and not a lot of time doing it. If they wanna play, it'll be fun." 🍿 pic.twitter.com/idZJkUvsqu
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) June 6, 2022
Marks continued to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:
“Honestly, I’m here for it. Like, I’m ready. I mean, Denny’s texting me right now as we’re talking actually. And, you know, it’s the drama, the controversy. I guess there’s a lot of talk in this sport, right? There’s a lot of time we spend telling everybody what we’re gonna do, and not a lot of time doing it. So if they want to play, it’ll be fun. …
“I’m a huge fan of the sport. I love entertaining fans and doing stuff out there that gets the conversation going. So if we want to battle, let’s battle. I’m not going to shy away from that. But again, at the end of the day, I’m also not driving the car myself. So, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”
Marks said he knows drivers self-police, but he still wants Chastain and No. 99 Chevrolet driver Daniel Suárez to be aggressive and “go fight for everything that they can.” And he said he made that clear to Chastain after the Gateway race.
More from Marks’ interview:
“I said, ‘I don’t think that you really did anything wrong. I think that you’ve just walked into a club [that] the same couple of guys have been in for a long time, and that’s the top-5, top-10 club. And you’re aggressive and you’re upsetting the applecart, and they’re not happy about it. But don’t really change what you’re doing because we got way too much money invested and time and effort to have either of our guys lay down.’
“So, yeah, I’m glad through all the drama and everything that he was able to come back and get a top-10 finish.”
What kind of retribution Chastain will suffer at the hands of Hamlin, Elliott or anyone else he’s frustrated remains to be seen, obviously. But, as Hamlin noted, it could come at the least ideal time for Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse team.
