KANSAS CITY, Kansas — As the burnout smoke cleared and a smashed watermelon began soaking into the track surface, Ross Chastain spoke like a racecar driver who hadn’t won — or mattered — in a long time.
“There’s been times this year where we couldn’t have disrupted the minnow pond outside of Darlington [Racewa], let alone a Cup race,” Chastain told NBC Sports on the frontstretch of Kansas Speedway, minutes after winning Sunday’s (Sept. 29) Hollywood Casino 400.
It had been 10 months since Chastain last went to a NASCAR Cup victory lane. It had also been four weeks since his team failed to make the playoffs for the first time in Trackhouse Racing’s history.
The drought (29 races) and not being in the playoffs may have factored into the velocity of Chastain’s traditional watermelon throw.
“I think I threw it harder than normal,” Chastain said. “It was pulverized.”
When Chastain and Trackhouse Racing’s No. 1 team does disrupt the playoff waters, it comes at incredibly timely moments.
For the second time in two years, Chastain kicked dirt on the playoff game board.
The first was in last year’s championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Chastain put up a fight with the title hopefuls and actually won the race, the first time in the elimination era the eventual champion didn’t go to victory lane.
Sunday, Chastain did it in the only “normal” race of the Round of 12, before visits to Talladega Superspeedway and the hybrid road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
His win denied anyone the use of five playoff points that come with a race win. He followed Chris Buescher‘s spoiler win in the first round at Watkins Glen International.
But it didn’t come without some close calls.
Chastain had to navigate a thrilling battle with childhood idol — and fellow non-playoff driver — Kyle Busch in the middle of the final stage.
Together, they swapped the lead eight times from lap 203 to lap 235.
That came with it’s own potential pitfalls, including both getting into the wall multiple times.
“Earlier I saw (Busch) drive it in the fence unforced,” Chastain recalled of the first instance. “I got by him. That lap I drove it in the fence and gave him the lead back. I couldn’t believe that, one, Kyle Busch, the guy I idolized as a kid, drove it in the fence as I ran second and then also that then I got the lead, and I did the same thing.”
Oddly, Chastain was “proud”…
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