Did You Notice? … Ross Chastain continues to rack up enemies heading into the NASCAR playoffs?
Add Kyle Busch to the refresh list after Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet made contact with Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, triggering a multi-car wreck in Sunday’s (Aug. 14) final stage at Richmond Raceway.
The incident, from my vantage point, looked like one of those “racin’ deals.” Busch appeared to move down just as Chastain drifted up, bringing them both together and spinning the No. 18 around. Chastain wound up with the worst of it, limping home 18th after winning stage one, while Busch was able to fight his way back into the top 10 (ninth).
But with the way drivers view Chastain at this point, whether it’s really his fault doesn’t matter much anymore. Any form of contact produces a verdict of guilty before proven innocent.
“We got Chastain’d this week,” Busch said after the race. “We were his victim this week.”
Just how many drivers has Ross ticked off at this point? It’s such a long list, it felt worthwhile to compile before the playoffs begin. After a season-high four straight races outside the top 10, just reading it shows the growing mountain both Chastain and his team have to climb, emotionally and on the racetrack, in order to be reemerge as a top-tier title contender.
ROSS CHASTAIN ENEMIES LIST
Current NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Drivers
Chase Elliott: The current point leader has had two major incidents with Chastain. The one everyone remembers is at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, where Chastain slipped up into the No. 9 car and spun him out.
“I’m [expletive] over it,” Elliott said after the incident. “He ran me over going into [turn] 3 and he ran me over again.”
Elliott responded with some contact later on that pushed Chastain out of the groove, but didn’t spin him out. The drama occurred less than a month after one of the hardest crashes this season, when Chastain hit the wounded car of Kyle Busch in the All-Star Race. The No. 1 car got lifted in the air, sped up like it was shot out of a cannon and wiped out Elliott, as all three drivers suffered hard hits.
Could Chastain have avoided it? “I guessed left and froze,” he said.
Ryan Blaney: The second-place point man (but last on the playoff grid) got into it with Chastain at Richmond in April. The duo were fighting for sixth when Chastain laid the bumper to the No. 12 Ford in order to get…
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