This week will mark two years since Ross Chastain won the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in a wild finish on the final lap. It was a great follow-up win to his first career victory at COTA in the 2022 season. It also let NASCAR know this watermelon farmer was serious.
Ross Chastain was in the right place at the right time. Most of the time at Talladega, that’s all you can really ask for. The Melon Man wasn’t perfect that day. He sped on pit road, there were other issues going on.
However, running third behind Erik Jones and Kyle Larson going into the last two laps of the race, Chastain was where he needed to be. As the field made their way out of Turn 4, Jones threw a late block. It sent Larson to the right, Kurt Busch into the wall, and opened the door for Chastain to race to the line.
Chastain talked to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports about the massive win and how it all unfolded.
“The pivotal moments were, speeding on pit road. We left our pit stall after a stop and Stenhouse came out and he had a really bright-colored car and I thought he was going to drive into my door. So, I kinda gassed up and went around him and just, sped. It was just a mental error that I got spooked by a car, he left me plenty of room.
“Then they were lapping McDowell and I, and I pulled up into the middle lane to create a disturbance so that I could get the draft so I could pass Michael and be the free pass. That was ultimately, if I was behind him we would have just blended in together and he’d have been the free pass car. I wanted to be in front of him so I got the draft first and was able to get that and that set us up to be third taking the white flag. And yeah, I had just committed to the bottom that time. They just came off turn four and they started turning right and Austin Dillon and I stayed on the bottom and he pushed me to a win.”
In that 2022 season, Ross Chastain was great at Talladega. He won the spring race and then he led the most laps and finished P4 in the fall. Now, last season, not so much. Things didn’t play out in this favor. However, that is superspeedway racing at times.
Chastain has been strong in the draft. He was there with a chance to win at Daytona this season. He has to actually finish races, though. When he is able to get across the line, most of the time it ends with a solid result. Then there are times when he ends up wrecked in the end.
Is Chastain one of the best superspeedway drivers? I wouldn’t say that. He has been a solid one though. Could he pull off another Talladega win this Sunday (or Monday, weather permitting)?
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