Has Ross Chastain Failed to Exceed His Own Expectations Amid the Intense Playoff Chase?

Ross Chastain has been the Lucky Dog of NASCAR for quite some time. But the #1 Trackhouse Racing driver has admittedly renounced his infamous title. And that’s not even the saddest part of his 2024 NASCAR Cup Series story. The driver has barely made it to the playoffs this season, with no wins to his name.

Call it a slip of luck or a pressure build-up, but Chastain has just not been able to make even a close call to the victory lane. The driver has struggled with the Chevy since the beginning of the year, despite two successful Gen 7 seasons. Is this a Chevy thing, a Trackhouse thing, or neither?

Why has Ross Chastain been trailing down on his playoff chase?

While there have been problems with Chevrolet Camaro speed across teams, barring Hendrick Motorsports, there seems to be a bigger issue at play with Trackhouse. Ross Chastain is missing the raw competitiveness he had last year when he was both appreciated and criticized by spectators. The zeal to win seems missing from the Melon Man, and so do his melon-smashing rituals post the race wins. As Eric Estepp in his YouTube video about the ‘Biggest NEGATIVE Surprises of the NASCAR Season So Far’ puts it, “Two years ago, he was the championship runner-up.”

Ross Chastain has been on and off the Cup Series over the years, ever since his 2017 debut. He ran full-time in the Cup Series for the first time in 2019 with Premium Motorsports. He took a Truck Series turn in 2020 and then returned to the Cup Series full-time in 2021 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Chastain scored zero wins that year. The CGR team was bought by Trackhouse by the end of 2021. The past two seasons, namely 2022 and 2023, brought two wins each for the Florida native.

So, why is Chastain unable to register wins now, after two successful seasons with Trackhouse? Well, it could be that the other drivers are much more enthusiastic about winning, and Chastain has taken a back seat in the meantime. His crashes with Kyle Larson in 2023 brought him some trouble in the form of some serious calls from boss Rick Hendrick. And the #1 driver seems to be pulling back ever since.

Does anyone else feel like Ross Chastain, is purposely driving softer/letting others get some kinda “revenge” on him?
byu/Fucksibhuile inNASCAR

There is also another plausible reason for Chastain’s underperformance. Trackhouse with its PROJECT91 program has been attracting world-class drivers to NASCAR. This year’s collaboration with Kaulig Racing to promote Shane van Gisbergen has proven to be pretty fruitful for the two teams. SVG has performed with flying colors across Xfinity and Cup Series races. So, the team’s efforts might have tilted toward him. But that’s far-fetched speculation.

The bottom line is that Chastain is still keeping his rigor alive in the Xfinity and Truck Series races, but is falling short on all Cup Series occasions. He was presented with some good start positions in many Cup Series throughout the season, but he failed to turn them into anything meaningful. This lack of consistency is costing Chastain dearly.

Will Ross Chastain make it to the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs?

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Ross Chastain has only mustered two top-five and seven top-ten finishes this season thus far. Now, with only four races remaining before the playoffs, there’s a high possibility of Chastain dropping off the list. He needs to focus on his craft and bring everything he has to the table to make it to the victory lane. There’s no more time to squander. Eric Estepp is worried that “He could very realistically miss the playoffs. That would be a shocker.”

Having said that, it might not be possible for him to race unabashed for a multitude of reasons, as discussed above. And if that’s the case, then it’s better for him to just give way to a more deserving driver. At least that way, the NASCAR spectators won’t have to go through the pain of watching him fail over and over.

There have been some technical issues with his ride, though, on multiple occasions. So, Chastain is probably not the only one to blame in this series of unfortunate events. Everyone concerned must pull up their socks and get to work to keep any ray of hope of winning alive.

Do you want to see Ross Chastain in the playoffs?