Former NASCAR Driver Jeff Burton Defends Ross Chastain After his Massive Airborne Wreck at Texas

On Sunday, there was a scary moment involving Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott. It all started when Busch suddenly had a flat tire and went down to the bottom of the track. Unfortunately, he did not expect a startled Chastain to come tanking in behind him and clip his Joe Gibbs Racing car.

The impact sent the #1 car briefly airborne before it careened into an unsuspecting Elliott.

In light of this accident, former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton jumped to Chastain’s defense.

Burton said, “I love that you guys take the responsibility for, ‘Hey, that’s my car, that’s my driver’. But he [Chastain] has to make the ultimate decision. When you’ve got a car in front of you, and you know he has a problem.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Why Dale Earnhardt Jr Believes Part Failure is a ‘Great Thing’ for NASCAR as Teams Worry

“You’ve seen he has a problem, and I think in Ross’ mind, Kyle could not keep the car down. He was thinking ‘Kyle was coming up the race track, the safest thing for me to do is to go underneath him’. He had to make a split-second decision, it wouldn’t have mattered what the spotter said.”

What can Ross Chastain do now?

Now, the driver can do nothing but rue what could have been, and thank his lucky stars that he was not injured. After all, it was a nasty-looking accident, and things could have been a lot worse.

READ MORE: NASCAR Fans React as Poll for Ryan Blaney-Starrer All-Star Race Shows Glaring Results

Of course, no one really blames Kyle Busch for triggering the accident. He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the same goes for the unlucky Chase Elliott.

At least Chastain can take comfort in the fact that no points were on offer. Instead, there was a $1 million cash prize on offer for the victor, which Ryan Blaney eventually pocketed. Now, the Trackhouse Racing driver will be looking forward to the coming races and a chance to fight for the championship.