Ross Chastain

Chastain had a bit of a perplexing season in 2023. While he still won two races, his Top-10 totals dropped from 21 to 14 over the prior year and his average finish swelled from 13.3 to 15.0. Some of the consistency he enjoyed in 2022 seemed to be missing last year and as a consequence it was only good for ninth-place in the final driver standings. Much of that was thanks to a late-season playoff heater that saw Chastain grab a win in the season finale, four Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes in the playoffs. That's a good look heading into the short off-season and very encouraging for 2024. We may be being a bit too conservative ranking Chastain 11th in the pre-season rankings as he certainly has the ability to grab wins and pile up Top 10's. He's shown he can be a championship contending driver and he could resume that in the upcoming season.

The Trackhouse Racing veteran was the breakout surprise performer of 2022. Chastain used a fast car and opportunistic performances to propel him to runner-up in the championship chase last season. The four-race Top-5 streak he ended the playoffs on was a key factor in that outcome. Chastain came from out of nowhere to post two wins, 15 Top-5 and 21 Top-10 finishes to shatter his old career-best marks. The 29-year-old Floridian has pushed himself into the upper tier of the sport and will be challenged to equal those marks going forward. We do, however, believe Chastain could be in for a bit of a regression. That coupled with other teams catching up in terms of performance to close the gap could push Chastain down in the rankings a bit this season. He and crew chief Phil Surgen will be reunited again in 2023, but they'll face tall odds to attempt to replicate the near-perfect season they had last year. We expect a decline in terms of Top 5's and Top 10's for Chastain and the No. 1 Chevrolet team.

With the closure of Chip Ganassi Racing, Chastain had to scramble to secure a new ride for the upcoming season. He landed squarely on his feet at Trackhouse Racing. The relatively new team is expanding to two cars in 2022 and Chastain will take over the team's new entry, the No. 1 Chevrolet. The move is a tough one considering that Chastain posted career best numbers in his one campaign with CGR last year. The veteran driver grabbed three Top-5 and eight Top-10 finishes to post a respectable 20th-place points finish in his first full Cup Series campaign. He'll be challenged to reach those marks with his new team. Phil Surgen will serve as crew chief and the team will field Hendrick Motorsports' powered Chevrolets. Chastain's 115-career Cup Series starts will help with the growing pains, but this is a new race team and bound to encounter a steep learning curve with the new Next-Gen car.

The journeyman driver makes a return to NASCAR's top division in 2021. Chastain spent last season racing full-time in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing, and doing a pretty good job in that division. He'll now return to the Cup Series and fill the seat of Chip Ganassi Racing's embattled No. 42 Chevrolet team. This team is frankly a hot mess at the moment. After Kyle Larson's abrupt release early in 2020, Matt Kenseth came out of retirement last year to finish the season behind the wheel. The team languished to just two Top-10 finishes in 32 starts under Kenseth's guidance. Now Chastain will be tabbed with the heavy lift to get this team back to competitive racing. He'll have the help of crew chief Phil Surgen, who has just 17 starts of Cup Series experience. The duo will face an uphill battle, but the good news is that they have good equipment and great resources at CGR. This season likely will be a "dig out" effort at best to get the ship righted.

The very popular journeyman driver has a cloudy Cup Series slate in 2020. Chastain raced the full schedule last season in a respectable effort with Premium Motorsports. However, it's what the 27-year-old driver accomplished in the Xfinity and Truck Series that would turn heads last year. Chastain grabbed his second-career Xfinity Series win racing part-time for Kaulig Racing, and he ran the full Truck Series schedule, grabbing three victories and challenging for the championship in that division of NASCAR. Chastain would ultimately wind up second in the overall truck standings of last season. It looks like 2020 will be a full-time Xfinity campaign as Kaulig has Chastain tabbed for their No. 10 entry. How much time that will leave for Cup racing is a mystery at this point. Chastain is very capable but it looks like his focus is shifting away from the Cup Series this season.

Chastain completed his first full season of Cup Series racing with the No. 15 Premium Motorsports team last year. The 26-year-old driver made 34 of the 36 events and raced to just two Top-20 finishes. Chastain accumulated six DNF's over the course of the season in what was an up-and-down campaign. Premium Motorsports has put Chastain back in the team's Chevrolet for the 2019 season and once again paired him with veteran crew chief, Pat Tryson. Sponsorship has been tough to sell for this ride, but they look they'll pull it off again this season and be fully funded. Chastain and the team really needs to improve on their 31.8 average starting spot from last year if they hope to improve.

Chastain will return for a fourth season of full-time Xfinity Series competition in 2018. He returns to the same JD Motorsports team that he competed with last year. Chastain had a pretty good season by all measures in 2017. He grabbed his first-career Top-5 finish, nabbed two Top-10 finishes and wound up career-best 13th in the final driver standings. The 25-year-old Floridian will look to improve on those marks in the upcoming season. With all parts and pieces of the No. 4 team returning, it's entirely possible. Chastain limited his DNF's to just two last year, and that was very instrumental in his improved consistency and good season.

Has signed with JD Motorsports to return to the team's No. 4 Chevrolet again in 2017.

Chastain did so surprisingly well in his first full season of Xfinity Series racing last year that JD Motorsports has invited him back to pilot the No. 4 Chevrolet once again. The 22-year-old Floridian racked up four Top-10 finishes and finished 15th in the driver standings last season. Chastain had some issues with posting five DNF’s during the campaign, but generally he finished most races on the lead lap. Super speedway and short track events seemed to be the team’s strength and should be once again in 2016. Gary Cogswell returns as crew chief to guide this young driver once again, so we expect to see some growth and improvement this season.

Team owner Brad Keselowski is starting up a new, second truck series team this year and he’s chosen Chastain to be the majority driver. Chastain will get 15 of the 22 events while owner Keselowski, Dave Blaney and Joey Logano will complete the schedule. The team’s performance will largely be tied to Chastain since he will be racing two thirds of the schedule. The youngster earned four Top 10’s racing the full schedule in 2012 with a much smaller race team. The No. 19 team should be poised for a good campaign despite the multiple driver lineup.