Ross Chastain explains stolen hat incident after Coca-Cola 600 victory

“I did [get the hat back]. I believe this is the hat. That was unfortunate,” Chastain said, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports. “A guy was on pit road, he was super excited and he reached in [the car]. I high fived him; I didn’t know him and he just like grabbed my head and I thought, oh, he’s just saying, ‘Good job, buddy.’ Then, he just pulled the hat and did this little dance and said, ‘I got your hat. I got your hat.’ I was like, ‘Give it back.’ He ran away and I just shut the car off, pointed to NASCAR security.

“That’s my winning hat. It rode in the car. Every race I drive, I have to have a hat with a hole in it so I can put it on the shifter, and it rides on the transmission tunnel every week. That’s the hat and I’ll put it on the shelf. It means a lot to me, and I’m not gonna give that away.”

Ross Chastain steals Coca-Cola 600 victory from William Byron

Chastain won one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel events in dramatic fashion, passing William Byron on Lap 395-of-400. Byron had the dominant car, leading 283 laps. But during the final long run of the night, Chastain’s car was a rocket.

Trackhouse Racing has faced questions all season about the lack of speed in their race cars. Those concerns are no more, as Chastain went from 40th to first in 600 miles. He was forced to go to a backup car after crashing in practice. Chastain is the first driver to start last without a penalty and win since Richard Petty‘s triumph at Richmond Raceway in 1971, per Seth Eggert.

“That’s the dedication it takes from Trackhouse,” Chastain said. “There were people that had Saturdays off, and they came in for this Chevy. To drive on that final run and pass two cars that had been way better all night. … Holy cow, we just won the World 600.”