'We're just not fast enough': With speed lacking, Ross Chastain's Chase hopes fading

After the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta on July 12, Ross Chastain was only 45 points out of a Chase berth and coming off of a sixth consecutive top 20 finish — by no means a scorching hot stretch of races, but a respectable one that kept him within striking distance of the postseason. According to Chastain, the projections shown to him in debriefs at Trackhouse Racing showed that he was on pace to make the Chase. 

As the Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway this weekend, finishes of 27th at North Wilkesboro and 23rd at Indianapolis, combined with other movement around the Chase cut line, have Chastain 82 points out of the Chase with only four regular season races left as the No. 1 team searches for speed. 

Points don't matter if speed isn't found, says Chastain

"I just want to go a little bit faster," Chastain said Thursday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "I'm being honest, I don't care about the points because we're just not fast enough. If we're not faster, none of this matters. Y'all have watched me ascend through the sport, and I would've given a lot to have what I have. 

"But now that I'm here, I want to go fast. That's the whole reason I do this. We want more speed, and that's what Trackhouse and I are only focused on. Not the points. It matters, but it doesn't matter. We're not going to get there unless we go faster."

Chastain has only four top 10 finishes this season and hasn't finished top 10 since a seventh-place run at Naval Base Coronado on June 7. His average finish of 19.9 this year is his worst since joining Trackhouse in 2022 and his worst in a full-time Cup Series season since 2019, when he drove for Premium Motorsports.