Ross Chastain saw an opportunity to put himself in position to win the Daytona 500, and took it.
With the field getting ready to take the white flag at Daytona, Chastain, who sat behind race leader William Byron on the outside line, tried to cut across the track to the inside line, to a spot which opened up after Austin Cindric was bumped out of line by Corey LaJoie. Cindric, however, didn’t slide completely out of line after the nudge from LaJoie. His No. 2 Ford cut right and into Chastain, sending both of them into the infield grass on the frontstretch. NASCAR threw the caution flag after Byron had crossed the start-finish line, making him the winner of the 66th running of the Daytona 500.
Though his aggressiveness didn’t quite pay off, Chastain has no regrets for making the move he felt he needed to make to win the Daytona 500.
“I took the gap, and I don’t apologize for that,” Chastain said. “I can go to sleep tonight knowing that I took the white flag, making the move to win the Daytona 500. Four years ago, it was with eight laps to go or something. I’ve got it down to one lap to go. Yeah, too aggressive, though, when you don’t finish.”
Justin Marks offers words of encouragement to Ross Chastain after Daytona 500
Chastain won’t have his name etched into the Harley J. Earl Trophy, at least not now. He officially finished 21st, leading the fourth-most laps of any driver (14). Chastain, who said he felt “content” with his overall effort, received some words of encouragement from his boss, Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks.
Marks told Zack Albert of NASCAR.com that he relayed to Chastain how proud of him he was and that he appreciated him going for the win, even if it didn’t work out.
“I just gave him a hug and told him I’m proud of him. And said that you know, we’re gonna be doing a lot of these Daytona 500s together,” Marks said after the two met in the No. 1 team’s hauler. “We’re going to have a lot of opportunities to win this race. I think everybody at Trackhouse, we do a pretty good job of managing our expectations and knowing that these races always come down to a game of millimeters at the end. And you have to shoot your shot.
“You have to go for it. I’m glad that he did. He’s in really good spirits. Probably already thinking about Atlanta.”
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