ADVERTISEMENT
Kyle Larson is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion. He is known as a clean driver. Ross Chastain is, well, Ross Chastain. He’s had a great season, earning the first two Cup wins of his career, but has ruffled some feathers along the way with his aggressive driving style.
On Sunday at Road America, Kyle Larson turned the tables and gave Chastain a dose of his own medicine, taking him off the track and, more importantly, sending a message to the Trackhouse Racing driver about what he could expect for him. rest of the season. .
Ross Chastain apologizes for aggressive driving
Ross Chastain won his first Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas with an aggressive final lap move that knocked Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger off the track and allowed him to move on for victory. Everyone knew it was an aggressive move, but they justified it for a couple of reasons, including that it was a response to how Allmendinger had raced Chastain a few laps earlier, and was doing whatever it took to claim his first Cup trophy.
ADVERTISEMENT
After Austin, those excuses disappeared. However, Chastain’s driving style remained.
And that style has stirred up numerous drivers ever since, including Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott at World Wide Technology Raceway last month. That’s where the 29-year-old watermelon farmer scored a two-for-one Stage 2 stage, first severely damaging the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing car by driving backwards and sending it into the wall, and then just laps later. . , hitting a wide triple on a restart and getting into the left rear of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports car and spinning it sideways.
After the race both drivers were unhappy and Chastain apologized profusely.
“I owe half the field an apology,” he told Fox’s Jamie Little. “Words aren’t going to fix it, so I’m going to have to pay for it on the track. I almost did it today and I deserve everything they do.”
Kyle Larson gives Ross Chastain a dose of his own medicine
Kyle Larson is HMS teammates with Chase Elliott. He is good friends with Denny Hamlin. On Sunday, the defending Cup champion was battling Chastain for third place on Stage 3.
Passing a challenge and Larson’s patience was wearing thin, he channeled his inner Chastain and walked up to the back of the Trackhouse car and gave it a push going into the corner. The No. 1 car spun off the track, allowing Larson to pass and claim third position.
“Ready to pass that pass, so he made it happen,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the broadcast.
To Chastain’s credit, he quickly got back on track and only lost one position. Both drivers held those positions until the checkered flag.
Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott still owe him
Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson have not had any incidents this season. What happened on Sunday was not revenge for anything and would not be classified as an incident, but as a race.
But make no mistake about it, that move by Larson sent a clear message to Chastain that what he has done this season, including Bowman at COTA and both Hamlin and Elliott at WWT Raceway, he can expect to come back to him in some form. .
Larson was professional in his execution, as you would expect from a champion who is most considered a clean driver. Whether or not Hamlin, who has admitted he owes Chastain, Elliott or anyone else, is so respectful in his approach, he is very much in doubt.
If nothing else, Chastain learned Sunday that he might have to start looking in the mirror a little more as the races go on and we get closer to the playoffs. And he doesn’t know who it could come from.
I like Sportscasting on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @castingdeportivo19 and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
RELATED: Ross Chastain raises the red flag at Road America and brings back haunting memories of Jimmie Johnson’s terrifying speedway accident in 2000