CREW CHIEF: Phil Surgen
TEAM: Trackhouse Racing
POINTS: Second in Cup Series
WINS: Two (COTA, Talladega I)
LAPS LED: 692
TOP 5s: 15
TOP 10s: 21
QUALIFIED FIRST: None
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks advertised his relatively new team as being a disruptor. Ross Chastain took him seriously, surprising the racing world with a two-win, close-to-the-championship season that included one of the most dramatic last-lap moves in the history of NASCAR.
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Chastain’s final-lap, against-the-wall charge at Martinsville to make the Championship Four was like nothing seen before in Cup racing. The replay was viewed millions of times and attracted congratulations from as far away as the Formula 1 world.
Chastain scored his first Cup win by driving aggressively – some would say overaggressively – in the closing miles at COTA. Four races later, he scored again at Talladega.
He closed the season with finishes of second, second, fourth and third.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Chastain fell one spot short of what would have been a remarkable championship.
Along the way, his fierce driving earned him more than a few enemies, a list too long to mention here. Retaliation was promised, but Chastain roared along regardless, lifting Trackhouse’s profile.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023: The sky seems to be the limit for the sport’s newest star. He no longer is an unknown quantity, however, and he’ll be very much on everyone’s radar, unlike 2022 when he kept producing surprises.