Dale Jr. Demands Answers From Ross Chastain After “Chicken Sh–” Move On Chase Elliott in COTA

Remember the 2022 Cup Series season? It was epic for one reason and one reason only: Ross Chastain. NASCAR finally got a driver who wasn’t afraid to bend the rules. And who can forget the ‘Hail Melon’ move he made in Martinsville to reach the championship 4? To be honest, a championship would have sealed the deal, but sadly, he had to settle for a P2. And what fans and the entire NASCAR community loved about the #1 driver was his carefree attitude. But at the recent EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, we did not see the watermelon-smashing driver in his true form.

It honestly feels like Chastain has gone soft after 2022. Punching Noah Gragson or troubling Denny Hamlin, in 2023, was the last we remember of the Chastain fan’s love. If you recall, Dale Earhardt Jr had even compared him to ‘The Intimidator.’ But after last year, that same aura seems to have worn off. Chastain failed to make the playoffs in 2024 and was too cautious with his driving. And after what happened between him and Chase Elliott at COTA this year, we think even Dale Jr. will take back his words of comparison. And recently Junior has thrashed Chastain’s choice of remaining silent on his actions.

Ross Chastain shouldn’t have left silently!

Here’s what happened: It was lap 1 of the race and Chastain dive-bombed into Turn 1. The #9 was clueless about this and got spun around. This put him 33 spots down. Look, the #9 team knew there was going to be pushing and shoving at COTA, but not on the very first lap! That pissed the Hendrick Motorsports team as they looked for payback. And even Chastain knew Elliott was coming for him. When the moment finally came, Ross Chastain let Elliott pass settling for a P12 as the #9 driver took P4.

That’s so not like the aggressive Ross Chastain we know of. And while Dale Jr lauded Chastain being the mature guy, he was puzzled why the #1 driver refused to comment post the race. Discussing the incident on the Dale Jr Download podcast, Junior said, “So Ross chose the better finishing position 12th. He chose that knowing the optics right…it looks a little chicken sh–….And then after the race, I guess he didn’t have a comment. Declined to comment. I think you got to comment. There’s no harm in it. I mean I guess you could say that ‘man messed up. I went down in the corner and my shallow entry. He was way offline and dirty racetrack down there on the inside and made a mistake. Lap one, I should know better.’ He could have said all that. “

Junior is of the belief that a driver needs to take ownership of their actions. “He (Chastain) could have said anything and that would have probably been better than a no comment. No comment is just probably not ever the best option. Is there ever a time where you’re like you know what the guy should have probably said no comment in a post-race?” Dale Jr added. Of course not!

Chase Elliott couldn’t believe what he saw in the aftermath of the race. “Yeah, for sure. I hadn’t seen it. So I don’t want to comment yet. But just, you know, it’s the first lap of the dang race. Just frustrating to fall behind there early, had damage and toe knocked out in the back. I would have loved to be in the mix. Easy thing to say when you have a bad day. But I felt like our car was pretty solid yesterday. And after the damage, we finally got it back in a respectable position.”  And while Elliott chose a composed response, his crew chief Gustafson wasn’t having any of it. “It’s just stupidity, but you know, we’re gonna have to pay that shit back because I’m over people like that constantly doing dumb shit. When we get a chance to send him, we’re sending that 1 car.”

Even NASCAR Journalist Jeff Gluck and many others anticipated that Elliott would shove Chastain…so they had Elliott’s in-camera view on. While we don’t have footage of the moment, here Gluck explains it perfectly, “I was watching Elliott’s in-car camera, because obviously I’m obsessed with those now. And I was like, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen?’ And you just see Chastain move right out of the way. And (Chase Elliott spotter) Trey Poole and (crew chief) Alan Gustafson are like, ‘Oh, he just moved right out of there. Yeah, he knew what was coming.’”

Coming back to  Junior, even Denny Hamlin disagrees with the ‘no comment’ stance. Hamlin’s got a solution to get the juicy comments out of such drivers and such situations.

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Denny Hamlin opens up on the COTA incident!

Well, Chastain avoiding the questions is kind of understood. You don’t want to publicly admit that you gonna shove a driver out of vengeance. But still, we would have loved to hear something from them. And we agree with Hamlin when he said on his podcast, “I think to each his own. It’s hard for me to judge why the no comment, but obviously as a media person like I am today, right, it’s my job to analyze and just say, ‘Eh, wish we would have got something out of you there.’”

Anyway, Hamlin ‘the media person’ has got a trick up his sleeve. He thinks Fox reporters should carry a tablet with them to show the drivers involved in the incident, a replay of the whole thing. Then Hamlin thinks it would be tough to duck the situation. “I like that. I like that because for us media members it’s crucial to getting those comments and those snippets of quotes from the driver when they’re hot, right out of the car, they just got wrecked. Show them that they got wrecked and then we’ll get those bold comments from them. So it would be better for FOX and others to like, ‘Hey, here’s what happened,’ right before a cut to Jamie Little and Jamie asks you what did you see out there, ” Hamlin added.

And we know Hamlin’s talking from personal experience as he says this. The #11 driver isn’t one to shy away from a comment. Had he wrecked Elliott and won, he’d probably be proudly saying, “I beat your favorite driver.” But Ross Chastain firstly not defending against Elliott in the race and then shying away in the media is not what NASCAR fans like seeing. That’s against the very spirit of the sport.

What do you think of Chastain’s move? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.