Days After Being Blamed for Talladega Wreck, Ross Chastain Fires Back at Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Driver: “Honestly Thought He’d Jumped the Start”

So, is Ross Chastain to be blamed for the big Talladega wreck? Famous for his competitive and aggressive driving style, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain has been called the “wrecking ball” of NASCAR due to his on-track tactics. And it seems like last Sunday’s race was no different.

During the overtime laps of the GEICO 500 at Talladega, a heated battle between rookie Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain ended up in big trouble for Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece. Hoping to clinch his first Cup victory, Legacy Motorsport driver Noah Gragson was driving the second-fastest car on the track. However, Chastain, who was right behind Gragson was eager to move ahead of him.

Initially, Gragson was driving on the outside lane but as he approached turn 1, he got loose. Trying to squeeze his way ahead, Chastain tried to move up through the gap created by Gragson. However, instead of dropping back, Gragson veered his way in. As a result, Chastain and Gragson made contact, and unfortunately, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson who was right behind the two had to bear the brunt of it.

Ross Chastain’s explanation of the incident

Explaining how he had no intention of getting that close to Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain shared what exactly happened on the track. In his recent interview at Dover, Chastain revealed,

“Full effort to push Noah on the start on that restart. Just fully committed. Had help from the #5 and the #8 so I knew a line of Chevy’s there. As we continue to push into turn 1, Noah went up the track further than I was willing to go and I just stayed in the line.”

Furthermore, he added that he never expected to reach the #42 driver as quickly as he did. He said,

That was the second line and suddenly was inside of them quicker than I even expected. And saw him turn back down after I was there and knew we were…it was too late to get any back behind him or anything. So, no intentions to ever be there.”

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Ross Chastain clarifies: I honestly thought he’d jumped the start

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Furthermore, during his conversation with the media, Chastain said that he thought Gragson would jump the start. Revealing what exactly went wrong, the Trackhouse Racing driver stated,

“I honestly thought he’d jumped the start and I was fully willing on the short shoot between the Start/Finish line and turn 1 that in my mind if I pushed him to the win, they’d probably give it to me because I thought he had jumped.

It sounds like that wasn’t the case but from my point of view he jumped the start and I was willing to push that #42 car all the way to the start/finish line.” 

Well, no matter what the two drivers thought, it was Kyle Karson and Ryan Preece who had to suffer the consequences. Reportedly, NASCAR has borrowed Preece’s car to analyze the damage it sustained during the wreck. Hopefully, this would help the governing body to make the cars more safer for the drivers in the upcoming seasons.

READ MORE: “I’m a Professional Loser”—“Wrecking Ball” Ross Chastain Trashes Critics Amid Nearly a Season-Long Winless Slump