Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch trying to keep the faith after Chip Ganassi sale
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch were focused on future races Wednesday when they got the news that their current race team won't exist as Chip Ganassi Racing starting next season.
Chastain was at a test of the NextGen car at Dover, where he was driving a Chevrolet-built car equipped with sensors designed to gather data for simulation programs.
After he found out from a text that the team’s NASCAR assets were sold to Trackhouse Racing effective the end of the season — "I thought they were joking," Chastain said — those at the test asked if he wanted to get back in the car.
"I think 20 laps in a wheel force car right now is exactly what I need," Chastain said of what he was thinking. "I went out and ran and drove the car a little too hard but just drove the car for what it was.
"It made me appreciate what we were doing even more."
Busch was at the Chevrolet simulator.
"I went into the Chevy simulator, and I came back out, and my phone had 200 messages on it," he said. "I [knew] something happened."
For Busch, the news might not mean too much. He is a free agent and appears as the top candidate for 23XI Racing if it expands to two cars. But he talked with Trackhouse owner Justin Marks previously about coming to the team, as he had eyes on other expansion possibilities while the Ganassi team was in the works but not finalized.
Marks has said he hopes to retain as many Ganassi employees as possible.
"We’ll see how things balance out," Busch said. "I’m racing for Chip right now. ... We’ve actually talked about Trackhouse [prior to this] — and I’m familiar with everybody at Ganassi.
"It changes the complexion of how we’ve talked already and what we still need to talk about."
For Chastain, it certainly appeared as a gut punch in the series of gut punches he has had in his career. He lost his Xfinity Series ride at Ganassi in 2019 after sponsor DC Solar was exposed by the FBI as a Ponzi scheme.
Now, after his first year of Cup at Ganassi, he doesn’t know where he will drive in 2022. Chastain was a candidate for Trackhouse’s car this season but obviously opted for the established organization.
"I literally bet myself last year that going with a team that has been here for 20 years is going to be here 20 years more," Chastain said. "That was an internal talk I had with myself.
"Getting that news Wednesday, I was like, ‘Wow.’ Nobody saw that coming. ... I wanted to throw up on Wednesday."
Chastain indicated that the sick feelings didn’t last long. He thinks there is a possibility that he could drive for Trackhouse, which has already committed to current driver Daniel Suarez for one of its two 2022 cars.
Marks even said that Chastain and Busch are top candidates. Chastain talked with Marks on Friday, and they have known each other for several years, as they once raced for the same truck team.
Both current Ganassi drivers posted solid finishes in the first race after the announcement. Busch was fourth at Road America and, with six races remaining in the regular season, holds the final spot in the playoffs by 25 points. Chastain finished seventh on Sunday.
"You drive harder and push deeper when news like that comes out," said Busch, the 2004 Cup champion who has raced in Cup for 21 seasons. "It was a surprise to me.
"All of us at Ganassi looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got a playoff berth right in front of us. Let’s go get it.’"
With crews not knowing their futures, the finish showed they can put the noise and uncertainty surrounding them aside when they compete.
"On Thursday, it was quiet for sure. There was some questions, but there were no answers, so it’s like, ‘Why are we even asking?’" Chastain said.
"Everyone was just kind of quiet doing their work. ... I think it has brought our little group closer together, but we still have a lot of questions and really no answers."
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If Trackhouse goes in a different direction, Chastain could end up back with the team he drove for last year. He raced the full 2020 Xfinity season for Kaulig Racing, which has an opening for a Cup driver to at least share a ride with AJ Allmendinger (and could, if it had sponsorship, put Chastain or another driver in that car full time).
The 28-year-old Chastain believes he has done enough — he sits 18th in the standings in his first Cup season with a quality team — to land something for next year.
"I’m confident that I’m not going to be back at the farm bugging my family just yet," Chastain said, referring to his family’s watermelon farm. "My job is to promote watermelons and to promote ag — not actually do it right now.
"I’m going to find something. I’m a survivor, if nothing else."
Despite his career's ups and downs, Chastain said he doesn’t feel defeated.
"I live an incredible life," Chastain said. "There are dark moments. Don’t get me wrong. There are dark moments for the richest person in the world and me as a race car driver.
"There are highs and lows. But I’ve learned there is a bigger plan."
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Thinking Out Loud
Does NASCAR need to adjust its qualifying rules for road courses to accommodate drivers who don’t post qualifying speeds because their qualifying laps are interrupted by cautions?
Maybe. The drivers get 25 minutes to make a lap, which should be enough time. But some drivers had two qualifying runs wiped out by cautions at Road America.
The argument for no change would be that those drivers could have gone out earlier. The argument for change would be that a track such as Road America is fairly narrow, and those who are lined up near the back because of the random draw have to wait for the first wave to make a lap.
The other tough part at Road America this year was that there wasn’t enough time after the final caution for a driver — once the track became green again and open for drivers to post speeds — to do a warm-up lap and get to the start-finish line to start another qualifying lap.
Could this solution work? NASCAR should put enough time back on the clock so that after a caution, drivers can do another lap.
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Stat of Note
Chase Elliott has seven career road-course wins, third all time behind the tallies of Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight).
They Said It
"Drivers are only as good as what they have to drive. Fortunately, I feel like I've got the best stuff and just got to make it work." — Chase Elliott
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
Chip Ganassi Racing Team Trackhouse
