“We get a chance to send it, we’re sending that #1 car.” This was Alan Gustafson’s command to Chase Elliott as Ross Chastain wrecked him in the very first lap of the Circuit of the Americas race. It was the first road course of the season, and everyone was expecting some shoving and bumping. But that early in the race would make anyone furious. Elliott had a P3 start, and naturally, he was hoping to get an early lead over leader Tyler Reddick, but Chastain’s move put him 33 spots down, and it didn’t just affect Elliott.

The #1 driver came in too hot in turn one and dive-bombed in the #9, spinning him. And in the aftermath, Denny Hamlin, Todd Gilliland, and even Chastain’s Trackhouse teammate, Connor Zilisch, who was making his Cup debut, got torn up. This has raised several questions on whether this move, this early in the race was warranted. Well, NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick had some strong opinions on that!

Kevin Harvick thinks Chastain was overzealous

Harvick thinks it’s not ideal to pull off such a move so early and that it probably shows overconfidence. Analyzing Ross Chastain’s move on the ‘Happy Hour’ podcast episode, Harvick said, “It’s just a bad move, and I used to have this talk with Max Papis. He comes from a different form of racing, and I used to tell Max. Do you really think that you are that good on lap zero to be able to pass that many cars and take that many chances? Do you think you are that good, or do you think everybody’s just trying to protect themselves from getting their car tore up, knowing that you are gonna run over somebody? Trying to make these bonzai moves on lap zero.”

Papis is an Italian motorsport driver who ran Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One, and Champ Car, and part-time Cup Series races as well, and he is also a close friend of Harvick. Since the road course is a staple for F1 drivers, you see them make such moves very early in the race. But even there, pulling it off gracefully is a rare occurrence. Anyway, coming back to NASCAR. Chase Elliott pulled his best road course game in recent times after the wreck. He finished P4 on a day that could have ended on a very bad note for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

And since Ross Chastain’s shenanigans put a fellow driver’s race chances in jeopardy, Harvick thinks it was the “worst move of the race.” And not just for Elliott or the others that were affected, but for Chastain himself, too. You don’t want to damage your car that early on in the race. Chastain pretty much stayed in the top 10 for the whole race. But he had top-5 speed, which got ruined, thanks to the crash.

Folks, we are all for Chastain bringing back his nonchalant ways, but this was a bit much. “And I think that Ross being overzealous at that particular point just tore up a bunch of race cars. We saw Zilisch get tore up, his teammate. Denny Hamlin got tore up. There were several other cars that had damage from that instance as well. But man, that’s a tough move on lap zero,” Harvick further added. Chastain’s move saw Connor Zilisch, who was one of the favorites for this race after his Xfinity win on Saturday, have to make an early pit stop. Despite that, Zilisch fought his way up the grid, only to be spun out by his other teammate, Daniel Suarez. To put it lightly, it was not a good outing for Trackhouse.

This was also quite a risky move for Chastain, who was already in hot waters with Hendrick Motorsports. Remember, in 2023, Rick Hendrick warned him to take it easy after he wrecked Kyle Larson multiple times in that season? The warning was clear: “I don’t care if he’s driving a Chevrolet if he wrecks our cars. I don’t care. I’ve told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back. If you don’t do it, they’ll run all over you.”

And it’s so surprising that, after all that, Chastain always manages to find Chase Elliott somehow. Remember the Texas Motor Speedway incident from 2022? Elliott and Chastain were nowhere close. But when Kyle Busch suddenly slowed down mid-race, Chastain had nowhere to go. He launched off of the #8 car and landed straight into Elliott. The same year in the Phoenix race, Chastain spun Elliott as both eyed that championship. And the list only gets longer. Just last year in the Atlanta Spring race, Chastain bumped Elliott, which led to him spinning out on the infield grass.

Probably this year Elliott had enough as he decided to give it back to the Trackhouse driver. Obviously, Chastain has been spinning the number #9 car for a long time now, and even Gustafson was done with it, saying, “I’m over people like that constantly doing dumb s–t. “ But in the end, Chastain did not give Elliott and the #9 team that chance! The way he acted after the whole Turn 1 fiasco has raised many questions.

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Why did Ross Chastain move out of the way?

After Gustafson asked Elliott to do the necessary, Elliott was prepared: “I’ll do what I need to do.” But Chastain, too, was warned by his team that Elliott was coming for him. And probably for the first time in his career, rather than joining the fight, Chastain decided to move out and let Elliott pass in the last few laps. This put the NASCAR community in shock. It was probably because of Rick Hendrick’s warnings ringing in his mind. Adding to this, after the race, Chastain refused to comment on what unfolded on the track.

Even Elliott barely said anything, “Just a crazy day. Got run over in the first corner. I’m curious to see it, I still haven’t seen it, to know whether or not I did something wrong. Happy to own it, but it was the first corner of the first lap.” Obviously, he wasn’t going to admit to the plan of moving Chastain, but we know the HMS driver would have done it had it come to it. And Chastain, not even issuing an apology, is a bit unfair to Elliott.

Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. agrees that Chastain should not have walked away silently. “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; was off line and dirt track down there on the inside, and he made a mistake; lap 1, I should know better,’ he (Chastain) could’ve said all that, he could’ve said anything, and that would’ve been better than a no comment.” 

Now, at the races to come, there would be this lingering tension between the #1 and the #9 teams. Maybe Chase Elliott will give it back at the upcoming Phoenix race. Anyway, what did you think of Chastain’s antics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.