Kevin Harvick expresses concern for Ross Chastain, Trackhouse

Kevin Harvick is expressing some concern for Ross Chastain. After busting onto the scene in the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing, his performance has tapered off a bit, and he hasn’t been racing like the superstar many expected him to evolve into.

During the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the former NASCAR champion tried to make sense of it all. He believes more of the blame is on Trackhouse, not Chastain, and that they’re actually over-performing due to their driver’s grit.

“You look at the Chastain pit crew, they’re ranked 16th. So, they’ve been doing a decent job on pit road, but they have not been doing a decent job in qualifying,” Harvick stated. “This was the first time I’ve ever heard Ross Chastain get out of that race car and voice his displeasure with the way that the cars felt. His interview afterwards was different than it has been ever before, with always being positive about everything that’s going on. The reality has showed up, and that is they struggle on qualifying day.

“They spent their whole day, with the No. 1 car, on pit road — strategy, great restarts. He’s right up at the top in that restart category of gaining positions, being able to put himself further forward by being aggressive and doing the things that Ross Chastain does. Doing Ross things.”

“So right now, I think after that race, you’re starting to see that that car is getting a little heavy on his shoulders, towing it along all day through the qualifying day and practice. They’re struggling to find the speed with that car. But they are grinding harder than anybody on the No. 1.”

Alas, Chastain has been the leader in the clubhouse for Trackhouse throughout their tough run, as has been the case over the past couple of seasons. The Alva, Florida native is P11 in the point standings, 140 points behind the leader. Additionally, he’s accumulated six top tens, two top fives and 50 laps led. He’s coming off a runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

More on Ross Chastain, NASCAR Cup Series

Moreover, Kevin Harvick isn’t the only one wondering if Trackhouse Racing has been holding Ross Chastain back either. Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic went as far as to call the team out on the latest episode of The Teardown. He believes the solid finishes Chastain and his teammate Daniel Suárez are accumulating are despite Trackhouse’s support.

“You look at Ross Chastain, we need to start giving Ross Chastain some love,” Bianchi stated. “He’s just turning in good finish after good finish. One, he’s not qualifying well. He’s not qualifying well because Trackhouse isn’t bringing great cars to the racetrack every week. They don’t have a lot of speed in the race car.

“Suarez too, to a lesser degree, but really, especially Chastain, this guy just grinds out finishes every single week. It’s like, man, if Trackhouse can just find some speed, you know Chastain is going to be able to go do his job. So impressive.”

Time will tell if Trackhouse Racing can turn it around, but outside of Ross Chastain willing his car to make some moves, it’s been a rough season in 2025. They’ll need to figure it out to become the sport’s darlings once again, or the team is risking fading into a bit of obscurity.