Ross Chastain: 'We just don't know' where to find answers amid 2026 struggles

All Ross Chastain could do was sigh when asked about his team’s performance through the first nine races of the 2026 season. 

With nine of 36 NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chastain, a six-time Cup Series winner, is 20th in Cup Series points. His only top 10 of the season came all the way back on Feb. 22 in a drafting race at Atlanta.

Chastain hasn’t finished inside the top 15 since, including a no-show at Kansas Speedway on Sunday that saw him cross the line in 26th.

Needless to say, Chastain isn’t happy with where he or his team is so far. 

“I think 20th in points is a really good yardstick for where we are,” Chastain told Yardbarker on Monday. “We’ve had days where we’re 17th, we’ve had days where we’re 23rd. We’re not playoff-capable right now, but we’re working to get there. We’re inundated in meetings and trying to grasp which direction we need to go, because we just don’t know.”

Nor does the rest of Trackhouse appear to know where it's going at the moment. Chastain’s teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and rookie Connor Zilisch, are 18th and 33rd in the standings, respectively, through nine races. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks went so far as to say that the organization was in a rebuilding phase in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio prior to Sunday’s race at Kansas.

Chastain disagreed with his car owner’s sentiment, at least in regard to the No. 1 team.

“[2026], the current year is the most different my team has ever been since we started actually in the 42 car in 2021 [with Chip Ganassi Racing],” Chastain said. “We tore it down and rebuilt post-2025. But those people have been in place through the offseason and into now.”

Perhaps the biggest change for the No. 1 group came on the pit box. Chastain’s former crew chief, Phil Surgen, transitioned into a leadership role with Trackhouse, leaving former Hendrick Motorsports engineer and an old buddy of Chastain’s in Brandon McSwain to become the former’s crew chief in 2026.

Ross Chastain searching for answers

The relationship between Chastain and McSwain is one that goes back to when Chastain was just breaking into the sport as a driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.”

McSwain was an engineer on the No. 80 Toyota that Chastain drove in his second career O’Reilly Series start at Michigan for the late Shigeaki Hattori, who died in April 2025.

“Actually, just last week, I was cleaning some stuff out of my garage, and I actually found the very first check that  [Hattori] wrote me for the Michigan O'Reilly race,” Chastain said. “I sent a picture to Brandon. We both came a long way since then.”

McSwain and Chastain went their separate ways on their climb up the NASCAR ladder, but are now trying to solve the same problem and get the No. 1 back into the winner’s circle.

Part of the necessary equation is Chevrolet’s new body for Cup Series teams in 2026. While the new body is a wrench thrown into the equation, Chastain isn’t one to blame it for his team’s struggles.

“We see the Chevys that are going faster than us,” Chastain said. “We’re not pointing the blame at the body. There’s Chevys competing in the top five, and we want to get there.”

Chastain will look to get back to victory lane behind the wheel of the No. 1 Jockey VentraCoolAir Chevrolet, which will be adorned with a new matte black paint scheme, at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26.