Ross Chastain’s Bizarre Fan Interaction After Charlotte Win Uncovers One of His Victory Rituals: 'Means a Lot to Me'

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain stunned the crowds at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday by pulling a daring move to win the Coca-Cola 600 in the final laps. He split the gap between Denny Hamlin and William Byron to snatch the lead with only six laps left in the race. But the bigger shock of the day awaited him in the pit road a little later.

Just as he was rumbling his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro down the pit road, an enthusiastic fan approached him. He high-fived the driver and then, out of nowhere, he reached into the car and pulled off Chastain’s hat. The driver was not pleased with that and instructed the NASCAR security to get his hat back from the fan, who had run away by then.

Chastain finally got the hat back and explained himself to the press in the post-race conference. He said, “He just pulled the hat and he did this little dance and he said, ‘I got your hat. I got your hat.’ I was like, ‘Okay, now give it back.’ He ran away.”

Chastain had no choice but to ask the security to intervene on his behalf. But what made the hat so special?

He continued, “It’s my winning hat. It rode in the car. Every week, every race I ever drive, I set the hat… with a hole in it, so that I can set it on the shifter and it rides on the transmission tunnel every week.

“That’s the hat. I will put that on the shelf and it means a lot to me. I am not going to give that away.” While he admitted that he was a bit harsh with his words, the consensus was that he was right in being so tough.