A new season of NASCAR racing has begun, but so far things look just like last year for Trackhouse Racing. The organization had a breakout campaign in 2022, putting Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez in the playoffs. Both drivers scored their first NASCAR Cup Series wins, and Chastain advanced all the way to the championship race. The success of the Nos. 1 and 99 teams suggested that Trackhouse would be a team to watch in 2023.
While it’s still very early, it looks like both drivers have kept their speed from last year. Suarez and Chastain soldiered through the chaotic final laps of the Daytona 500 to bring home top-10 finishes. Last weekend at Auto Club Speedway went even better. Chastain had the best car on Sunday afternoon, winning both stages and leading 91 laps on his way to a third-place finish. Suarez was right behind him in fourth after spending most of the race mixing it up in the top 10. It already looks like Trackhouse is out to prove that 2022 was no fluke.
Chastain might have been able to win the race had Kyle Busch not slipped away from him over the final green flag run. The No. 1 jumped out to the lead after a restart on lap 146, but Busch’s No. 8 remained in hot pursuit as the laps ticked away. Both drivers hit pit road for the last time with 33 laps to go, and it was during the pit cycle that Busch got ahead and began to gap Chastain. Although Busch’s car had been better on the short run up to that point, the No. 8 team clearly had the upper hand for the rest of the way. Chastain was not able to make up any ground and lost one more spot to Chase Elliott in the closing laps.
Still, Chastain is off to a far better start this season than in 2022. After finishing last in the Daytona 500, he went to Fontana the next weekend and crashed twice – once in practice and once during the race. With finishes of ninth and third to start 2023, there will be no need for Chastain to dig out of a deep points hole this time.
“To start off this year the way we have is a total 180 from last year when it was not like this,” Chastain said. “So, as much as it stings, as much as it does hurt [to not win], hats off to Chevrolet for [sweeping the] top four there, and [I’m] pumped to be in this position with Trackhouse. For our first crack at the big tracks here, it’s all we can ask for.”
Suarez rebounded nicely from a pit road speeding penalty early in the race. Unlike his teammate, Suarez had a good run at ACS last year,…
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