Ross Chastain chasing boosts in speed, confidence at Kansas
While recent results have been encouraging, Ross Chastain finds himself still searching for speed in his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet nearly one-third of the way through the NASCAR Cup Series season.
Winless through 11 races, the 32-year-old Chastain will set out this weekend to defend his race win from last September at Kansas Speedway, the site of Sunday's AdventHealth 400 in Kansas City, Kan.
Over the past six races at Kansas dating back to 2022, Chastain grids as the fourth-most productive driver, trailing leader Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. The Alva, Fla., native has an average finish of 8.7 with a win, two top fives, and four top 10s. He has led 6.4 percent of the laps around the 1.5-mile speedway.
In last season's only triumph, he cleared Martin Truex Jr. on a late restart and held off William Byron for his fifth career win, spoiling the postseason opener as a championship non-qualifier going to Victory Lane.
Ross Chastain walks onstage in Fort Worth, Texas. AFP
According to Chastain, his weekends this season have started out poorly in practice and qualifying, with the No. 1 car behind before the green flag flies.
The end result has been a 23.5 average starting position including three straight of 31st or worse, which he said has affected the confidence level for himself and Trackhouse teammates Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen.
"Just the speed of (our) cars on Saturdays is just terrible," Chastain said after his season-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday. "We're just not confident, all three drivers. So there was one pit stop today that (crew chief Phil Surgen) and the group. ... They made me a confident driver all of a sudden with one adjustment."
After 11 races, Chastain ranks 11th in points, slotting 281 behind Byron, who leads in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24. He currently has posted two top fives and six top 10s with one DNF and no stage wins in 2025.
On Tuesday, an important day for NASCAR to clean up its issues and get stuff done, the sanctioning body finalized what everyone had been hearing: Homestead-Miami Speedway, which awarded titles from 2002-19 as the season finale, will return to that slot in 2026.
Associated Press
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