NASCAR Cup Series star Ross Chastain is diving deep into the vault for his throwback paint scheme for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 14.
Chastain and his race team, Trackhouse Racing, took to Twitter Tuesday to unveil the paint scheme, which is a callback to Dale Jarrett’s days in the No. 88 UPS car.
Jarrett, regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all-time, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014. He raced his way to victory 32 times throughout his career, including three times in the Daytona 500 (1993, 1996, 2000). In 1999, Jarrett captured his first and only Cup Series championship. UPS began sponsoring Jarrett in 2001, and continued to do so until his retirement in 2008. UPS ended its sponsorship with NASCAR after the 2014 season.
Chastain, meanwhile, sits atop the Cup Series points standings despite being winless through 11 races. He’s recorded five top 10s and four top 5s, including a second-place finish in Monday’s Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Ross Chastain involved in another incident on the race track
Chastain, known for his aggressive racing style, was at the center of another incident on the race track at Dover. During Lap 83, Chastain got into the back of Brennan Poole’s No. 15 Ford Mustang. Poole spun out, taking out Kyle Larson in the process. Poole made it very clear he wasn’t happy with Chastain while speaking with Fox Sports.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I feel like I just got ran over,” Poole said. “As soon as he ran into me, I just kind of got shoved into the corner, like way too deep, and then just immediately I was turned around. So, I think it was the No.1? Go figure. I mean, just a joke… 80-something laps into a race? No reason.
“I was side-by-side with the No. 3, just got to the outside and it’s not like I can go anywhere or give him any more room than what I had. He just ran me over. So, it’s kind of pathetic. I don’t know. It seems to be something Ross does a lot recently. Just uncalled for. It was my first time in a new Cup car, and 80 laps out… for what?”
Chastain later apologized to Poole and his race team.
“I first have to say I’m sorry to Brennan at everybody at Rick Ware’s team,” Chastain said. “I owe a big apology and a bit more. When I get home from Skip Barber tomorrow, I’ll head over there and talk to those guys and make some of that right.”
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