'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
GEICO 500 winner Ross Chastain drove the same car at Talladega Superspeedway that he used at Circuit of the Americas last month.
Last year, while competing in Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 for the Chip Ganassi Racing team, Ross Chastain wrecked his car with seven laps remaining. Chastain needed to be able to compete three days later in the Daytona 500 and his primary car was damaged.
Within three days, his team prepared a backup car that looked almost the same as the primary one.
During the post-race interview, when asked about how it feels to win two different races with the same car. Chastain revealed that primary and backup cars feel the same as Next Gen cars. Further, he went on to say:
“You honestly can't tell. The first time that ever happened for me, you can always tell something between each car, there's always a little something different. I wrecked in the Duel last year in the 42 car, wrecked the car. We went to a backup. I got in for practice the next day and I called them out, ‘There’s no way, this is the same car, same interior.”
He continued:
“They’re like, ‘No, it’s all new, but it’s all that good. It’s that well-prepared.’ They prepare it that close that you can’t tell a difference. Same thing with these cars. I can’t tell a difference week in, week out. I can’t tell that it’s the same car because I can’t tell that one’s any different.”
“That hasn’t happened since the ‘60s” - Ross Chastain on winning two different race with same cars
Ross Chastain’s Talladega and COTA win with the same car came on two different surfaces. COTA is a road course while Talladega is a super speedway. Speaking about on winning two races with the same car, Chastain said:
“It makes it so special that Jim France and the NASCAR family, the France family, their vision for this car … in a month, you can bring a car back, you (can) win at a road course and win at Talladega,” Chastain said. “That hasn’t happened since the ‘60s. I don’t know, farther back. I have no idea. They would have different cars.”
At COTA, the Florida-native marked his career's first NASCAR Cup Series win. Talladega made him only the second driver with a repetitive win after William Byron in the 10 Cup races of the season.
