Ross Chastain bumps AJ Allmendinger, notches first Cup Series win
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
AUSTIN — Ross Chastain did what he had to do to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday.
And he’ll own it. And he knows that even though the race is over, it might not all be over.
After receiving a bump-and-run from AJ Allmendinger in Turn 15 on the final lap of the 20-turn road course, Chastain bumped Allmendinger a few times and got by with a shove in Turn 19 to capture the victory at the Circuit of the Americas road course.
"I didn't draw it up that way in my head, but, yeah, I did what I did," Chastain said. "I stand by it."
Not only did Chastain win for the first time in his 121st career Cup start, but he also earned the first victory for Trackhouse, Racing, co-owned by former driver Justin Marks and superstar musician Pitbull.
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Here are takeaways from a wild day at COTA:
Chastain completes journey
In understanding why Chastain would drive as rough as possible to win, it’s important to know his story.
A watermelon farmer from Florida, Chastain has had a roller-coaster career in which he drove for underfunded teams early in his career and lost the best ride of his career when Ganassi team sponsor D.C. Solar’s business collapsed amid a federal investigation into a billion-dollar fraud scheme.
But Chastain kept finding places to race, and when Chip Ganassi Racing was sold to Trackhouse last year, Trackhouse owner Justin Marks knew he wanted Chastain to drive his car.
"I don't view myself as a Cup Series-winning race car driver," Chastain said. "I just feel like I have to work to get there, and I'm not there yet. There's so many mistakes I make."
Ross Chastain after winning his first career Cup win
In his 121st Cup race, Chastain wasn’t going to hesitate to make a move that might frustrate Allmendinger, his former teammate at Kaulig Racing.
In 2020, Chastain wrecked Allmendinger as they raced for the win as teammates in an Xfinity race at Daytona.
"I'm sure that our friendship will hurt for this," Chastain said. "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 12th place in Xfinity. I've fought, and I've roughed people up and gotten into people. ... 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."
AJ Allmendinger breaks down what happened with Ross Chastain I NASCAR on FOX
Marks, who once was wrecked by Chastain in a race during his driving career, defended his driver.
"Ross got beat up a little bit today, too," Marks said. "I want to make sure people remember Ross got used up a little bit today a couple of times.
"And when the money is on the line and a playoff spot is on the table, you do what you got to do."
Allmendinger, Bowman come up short
Allmendinger, who won the Xfinity race Saturday and is running a partial Cup schedule this year, said he didn’t expect anything different from Chastain, who is known for his aggressive style.
"At the end of the day, we all have to look ourselves in the mirror. If you are OK with it, you're OK with it," Allmendinger said. "Each person is different."
Did AJ Allmendinger expect anything different from Ross Chastain at COTA?
Alex Bowman, who held the lead for a brief moment as Chastain and Allmendinger tangled, just settled for a second-place finish.
"Generally, I race people too clean for the most part, and at the end of the race, I didn’t run into anybody and just tried to take advantage of two guys running into each other, and it didn’t work out for me," Bowman said.
"So I’m not mad. I understand the 16 [of Allmendinger] being mad, and I understand the 1 [of Chastain] doing what he did. But we put on a hell of a show for the fans."
First Trackhouse victory
It was a huge day for Marks, who started Trackhouse in 2020 as a team embedded at Richard Childress Racing. He then surprised the NASCAR industry by purchasing the assets of Ganassi.
"Just to have an opportunity to be at this stage, on this stage, and to be able to compete at this level of the sport, I'm really, really lucky," Marks said. "I’m lucky that everybody committed to this."
Justin Marks gives his verdict on Ross Chastain's move at COTA I NASCAR on FOX
It took about a month for Marks to get a deal done with Chastain to drive for Trackhouse, which was expanding to two cars with its current driver, Daniel Suarez, slotted for one of those spots.
Chastain is currently fifth in the Cup standings, and Suarez is 15th.
"[Chastain] had to be patient with me while I let the dust settle, but we all were huge, huge believers in Ross' talent," Marks said.
"We knew what he was capable of doing, and he has proved it the last month at Trackhouse."
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!
