Sunday, March 27th, 2022
Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas
In exactly the kind of thrilling final lap, final-turn high-action finish NASCAR has so often provided on road courses, Ross Chastain persevered in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas - the sixth different winner this season.
Chastain really had to earn this one - coming out on the right end of a frantic, four lead-change, two-lap final overtime. And he did - moving veteran A.J. Allmendinger and Alex Bowman in the final series of turns on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit to take not only his first victory in NASCAR's premier series but also give his Trackhouse Racing's Justin Marks his first win as a new owner in stock car's big leagues.
After grabbing the position in the final corner, Chastain raced off to a 1.331-second victory over Hendrick Motorsports driver Bowman, who unlike Allmendinger was able to recover from the last lap contact and continue to the checkered flag. Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott and Richard Childress Racing's Tyler Reddick rounding out the top five.
Chastain's family owns a watermelon farm in tiny, rural Alva, Florida and as he has famously done with past victories in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series, Chastain stood on top of his winning car, the No.1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, and dropped a watermelon to the track, crushing it on the ground as his team and fans exploded in cheers.
"It's insane to go up against some of the best, and I know he's [Allmendinger] going to be upset with me, but we race hard, both of us," said Chastain, who has been runner-up in the last two NASCAR Cup Series races coming to Austin.
"But when it comes to this Cup win, I can't let that go down without a fight."
Allmendinger, who actually was a NASCAR Xfinity Series teammate with Chastain two years ago, was understandably crushed as well after the race. He finished 33rd.
"We just needed two more corners," said a disappointed Allmendinger, who also went door-to-door in a tight on-track battle with Chastain in winning Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA.
"Everybody's got to be comfortable with the move they make and look in the mirror," Allmendinger told FOX Sports. "Everybody's different on what they view, and you can't judge a person for that.
"So, at the end of the day, I'm just proud of Kaulig Racing for bringing such a fast Action Industry Chevrolet. We started at the back, drove to the front and if we had had a long run [at the end] it would have been game over. Nobody would have touched me.
"You know the moves are going to be made at times. Whether I'm okay with it, doesn't really matter.
"I wanted to sweep the weekend, and we came two corners away," he added.
Chastain led a race high 31 of the 69 laps - one of nine leaders in the series' first road course test with the Next Gen cars debuting this season. The race produced a series road course record of 30 green flag passes for the lead.
And the 29-year-old Floridian becomes the 12th consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race winner under the age of 30 and the third first-time winner this season.
It was as equally a thrilling maiden win for the former NASCAR and sportscar driver Marks, who was interviewed during the FOX telecast just before the final restart, revealing with a smile that "It's a little easier to be a driver of one these things than to watch."
"It seemed like a real tall order when I dreamt this thing up," Marks said. "But every man and woman that's trusted the vision and committed to Trackhouse and worked so hard owns a piece of this victory.
"I'm so happy for everybody. Everybody believed in this, and I can't wait for next week."
And, he reported with a grin, he spoke with the team's co-owner, music superstar Pitbull who promised he also was smashing a watermelon over his head and drinking champagne.
The race pole-winner Ryan Blaney finished sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr, Austin Cindric, Erik Jones, and Austin Dillon rounding out the top 10.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 42 | Chevrolet | Action Industries | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski |
2 | 78 | Andy Lally | Northport, NY | Feb 11, 1975 | 49 | Ford | Surface Sunscreen | Live Fast Motorsports | Lee Leslie |
3 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Rush / Mobil Delvac 1 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Drew Blickensderfer |
4 | 66 | Boris Said | New York, NY | Sep 18, 1962 | 62 | Ford | Bumper.com | Motorsports Business Management | Jeff Weaver |
5 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Wyndham Rewards | RFK Racing | Matt Mccall |
6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | FedEx Ground | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | GEARWRENCH | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers |
9 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, NV | Aug 4, 1978 | 46 | Toyota | Monster Energy | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott |
10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | Skittles Lime is Back | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
11 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
12 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | Love's Travel Stops | Front Row Motorsports | Blake Harris |
13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Bennett | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
14 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | SunnyD | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Menards / Richmond Water Heaters | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler |
18 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Schluter Systems | Spire Motorsports | Peter Sospenzo |
19 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Feb 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Chevyliners.com | Petty GMS Motorsports | Jerame Donley |
20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | LLumar | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
21 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Fifth Third Bank | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
22 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | FOCUSfactor | Petty GMS Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | CommScope | TrackHouse Racing | Travis Mack |
24 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Ford | Nurtec ODT Ford | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
25 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | ONX Homes / iFly | TrackHouse Racing | Phil Surgen |
26 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 30 | Toyota | leidos | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker |
27 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | RaptorTough.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
28 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | One Cure | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
29 | 77 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Chevrolet | Zeigler Auto Group | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
30 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | 3CHI | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
31 | 31 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Caleb Williams |
32 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | DeWalt | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
33 | 50 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 25 | Chevrolet | Pit Viper | TMT Racing | Tony Eury Jr |
34 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Columbus, OH | Sep 2, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Discount Tire | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins |
35 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | Mahindra Tractors | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
36 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Huntersville, NC | Oct 9, 2000 | 23 | Ford | Freightliner | Wood Brothers Racing | Brian Wilson |
37 | 27 | Loris Hezemans | Amsterdam, Netherlands | May 26, 1997 | 27 | Ford | Hezeberg Systems | Team Hezeberg | Josh Reaume |
38 | 15 | Joey Hand | Sacramento, CA | Feb 10, 1979 | 45 | Ford | Ford Pass Rewards Visa | Rick Ware Racing | Ken Evans |
39 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Sherrills Ford, NC | May 15, 2000 | 24 | Ford | Boot Barn | Front Row Motorsports | Troy Raker |