Ross Chastain blames his decision-making for Cup playoff elimination at ROVAL
Ross Chastain’s Talladega crash messed up his chance of making it out of R-12.
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Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain (Via IMAGO)
Trackhouse Racing Ross Chastain was projected as one of the most promising drivers to win the title at the start of the season following his impressive championship runner-up finish in 2023. But things didn’t go as planned for the Florida native as he was eliminated from the chase on the Round of 12 finale at ROVAL.
While talking about his exit, he pinpointed his hesitation to take the gap and overtake Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Talladega the week before. He pointed out that if he could quickly take the decision and make the pass on the 2023 Daytona 500, he could have been in the R-8 as he secured enough points in both Texas and ROVAL races.
“It all goes back to Talladega. I think that hesitation and then trying to shoot that gap, I never want to not go for the gap, but right now that hurts because that crash is what did it, right? We scored enough points at Texas, we scored enough here at the Roval, but we just can’t wreck Stage 1 at Talladega. Just unacceptable,” he told Fox Sports (H&T: ProTalk).
He was eliminated from the second playoff round alongside two-time champion Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing. They were joined by Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing and Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing. All four drivers had a solid shot at making it out of R-12 at ROVAL, but ultimately, Tyler Reddick secured the final spot.
In case you missed it: WATCH: A.J Allmendinger celebrates his third Cup Series victory with his fans at the Charlotte ROVAL
Ross Chastain is ready for the next race at Vegas
Chastain insisted that his lack of choice and hesitation was the reason for his elimination. He admitted that he has to live with the disappointment for the rest of his life. The No:1 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver added that he is now ready to sleep well and get the preparation start for the Vegas race.
“I made that lack of a choice, and I shot the gap out of hesitation, and now I get to live with that. But I can’t wait to go to sleep and wake up in the morning and start preparations for Vegas,” Ross Chastain said.
Trackhouse Racing now has to shift its focus to getting its 2024 cars ready for a championship fight. They also have to focus on getting Daniel Suarez back to race-winning form. The remaining four races are an opportunity to do that.
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Justin P Joy
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