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After taking his first ever NASCAR Cup Series victory on a road course, Ross Chastain was understandably excited coming into last weekend's Kwik Trip 250. The 250-mile-long race, which was slated to run on the 4-mile-long Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, saw Chastain, however, suffer from mechanical issues.
The Alva, Florida native, who made his debut with Trackhouse Racing this season, has benefited from the team's excellent performance. This, coupled with his own aggressive style of driving, has earned Chastain two victories so far. However, the previous weekend did not seem to go as straightfrowardly for the #1 crew as they would have hoped.
The run for the #1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on Saturday saw the car's brake rotors develop cracks due to uneven heat cycles.
This prompted the Trackhouse Racing mechanics to take precautionary measures and swap the affected rotors during qualifying. Chastain later commended his crew's dedication and speed as he reflected on the issue, saying:
“I saw everybody running around, and they were looking, ‘They were like, alright, you’re good,’ and I was like, ‘OK, I don’t want to ask. When I came back in they told me they were going to change a rotor, and I was like, ‘Oh boy.’ And they changed it in a few minutes, which is incredible. Hats off to Trackhouse and these mechanics to get that done and thank you NASCAR for letting us do that for safety. I don’t want to be breaking a brake rotor out here.”
Ross Chastain ultimately recovered to take a fourth-place finish for his team in the Kwik Trip 250 presented by Jockey Made In America last Sunday.
Ross Chastain's brake woes at Road America brings memories of Jimmie Johnson's huge crash in Watkins Glen 22 years ago
Ross Chastain's brake issues not only dampened his own spirit before the Kwik Trip 250 but also reminded fans of the huge implications a faulty braking system could have.
Jimmie Johnson was on the receiving end of one such failure during the early days of his career in the Xfinity Series. The 2000 feeder series race at Watkins Glen International saw Johnson's car experience brake failure before Turn 1, sending his car into the barrier at dizzying speeds.
Johnson recalled the incident during an interview and said:
“One of the very few times in a race car I thought it was over, I thought that was it.”
The wall that Jimmie Johnson slammed into was fortunately lined with foam barriers and tires, which absorbed the impact.
