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Ross Chastain pulled off a video game move at Martinsville Speedway to secure a Championship 4 spot. Chastain was once again in the position to repeat the same move in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway last week, but his gut feeling didn’t allow him to do it.
At the Phoenix Raceway, the #1 Chevrolet driver ran third on the final lap and had to pass both Ryan Blaney and eventual Cup Series champion Joey Logano to clinch his first career title.
Instead of racing to the outside wall, he followed the leaders tight through the final corner. The Trackhouse Racing driver crossed the finish line in P3 and finished the 2022 season in second place in the Cup Series Championship standings.
During a post-race interview in Phoenix, Ross Chastain said that the Martinsville scenario was the perfect scenario for it as his gut feeling allowed him to execute the move at Martinsville and not at Phoenix.
He went on to say that it’s dangerous to commit and to put the car through that move. Chastain said:
"I thought that the Martinsville scenario was the perfect scenario for it, and my gut told me to do it at Martinsville, and my gut told me not to do it here. Look, it’s scary as heck to commit to that and to put your car and your body through that. That was the longest wreck of my life. It was a successful wreck for a long time through the corner."
Ross Chastain is not sad after finishing P3 at Phoenix Raceway
Despite coming so close to winning his first Cup Series Championship last week, Ross Chastain said that he is not upset with his performance.
He also said that he is proud of his #1 Trackhouse Racing efforts that gave him a runner-up spot in the championship.
Chastain said:
"Like, I’m not sad. I’m not upset. I honestly thought when we started the playoffs that if we made it, as I go through different scenarios — I do think about what I’m going to think about ahead of time and think about what my thoughts are going to be and what I want them to be, and then I try to evaluate as I go."
The 29-year-old continued:
"If I lost by a little bit, that I would be really upset, and I’m not. Like I’m so proud and so happy to give our first shot at these playoffs and at racing in the Cup Series with Trackhouse, and we just ran second."
With his consistent run all season, Ross Chastain scored two wins and 15 top-five finishes and finished second in the standings with 5034 points.
