Cup Series win is second for the surging Chastain.
Watermelons everywhere now live in fear of Ross Chastain.
He did it again Sunday. Not only won a race but absolutely destroyed another watermelon, this time on the frontstretch at Talladega Superspeedway, one of the sport’s biggest stages.
And Chastain won the Geico 500, in a strange way, by not “trying” to win. At a track that has seen some of stock car racing’s zaniest finishes, Chastain, having learned some of his lessons the hard way, didn’t get involved in last-lap, spur-of-the-moment, struggle-for-a-spot maneuvers. He held his line—the low line, in this case—and was the survivor while virtually everyone else ran for daylight – and found none.
He led only the last lap.
“We just stayed down there,” Chastain said on his team radio after the finish, in a conversation punctuated by assorted victory screams.
Erik Jones and Kyle Larson were one-two entering the final 2.66 miles, with Chastain third. Larson tried to free himself from the pack by moving to the outside to attempt a pass. While Jones blocked the pass, Chastain, riding low on the track, ran through the opening.
He was only a few moments from the second win of his career.
“I’m always the one going to the top too early and making the mistake and there at the end, with like eight to go I was like, ‘I’m not going up there again, I did that a couple times today,’ ” Chastain said. “They just kept going up and moving out of the way.”
Chastain climbed on top of the winning car—the same car he had driven to victory at Circuit of the Americas earlier in the year. A Trackhouse Racing crew member delivered Chastain’s traditional sacrificial watermelon, and he smashed it with authority on the track surface.
Soon, Chastain might be trying to invent even more colorful ways to dispose of his family’s farm products.
Up Next
The NASCAR Cup tour rolls on to Dover, Del. next weekend. In last year’s race at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports swept the first four positions, with Alex Bowman leading Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron to the finish.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – 53rd Annual GEICO 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 24, 2022
1. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 188.
2. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
3. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188.
4. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188.
5. (2) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 188.
6. (16) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 188.
7. (28) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188.
8. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 188.
9. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188.
10. (24) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 188.
11. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188.
12. (11) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 188.
13. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
14. (33) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 188.
15. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 188.
16. (6) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 188.
17. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 188.
18. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188.
19. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 188.
20. (31) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 188.
21. (18) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 188.
22. (1) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 187.
23. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 187.
24. (36) David Ragan, Ford, 186.
25. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 185.
26. (37) BJ McLeod, Ford, 172.
27. (32) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 121.
28. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, DVP, 105.
29. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, Engine, 98.
30. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 95.
31. (4) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, DVP, 92.
32. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 89.
33. (20) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 89.
34. (25) Harrison Burton #, Ford, Accident, 89.
35. (35) Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 79.
36. (3) Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 56.
37. (17) Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 56.
38. (30) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 56.
39. (10) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Engine, 31.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 148.637 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.105 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.
Lead Changes: 41 among 16 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Bell 1;D. Suarez 2-3;C. Bell 4-9;D. Suarez 10-35;C. Custer 36;J. Logano 37;K. Larson 38-50;B. Wallace 51;K. Larson 52;B. Wallace 53;K. Larson 54;B. Wallace 55-60;B. McLeod 61;K. Larson 62-64;E. Jones 65;K. Larson 66;E. Jones 67;K. Larson 68-69;E. Jones 70-73;B. Wallace 74;E. Jones 75-82;B. McLeod 83;W. Byron 84-121;*. Yeley(i) 122;E. Jones 123-124;K. Busch 125;E. Jones 126;K. Busch 127-128;R. Blaney 129-151;B. Wallace 152;E. Jones 153-154;B. Wallace 155-159;C. LaJoie 160;K. Busch 161;D. Hamlin 162-170;K. Larson 171-176;E. Jones 177;K. Larson 178-181;E. Jones 182-183;K. Larson 184;E. Jones 185-187;R. Chastain 188.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): William Byron 1 time for 38 laps; Kyle Larson 9 times for 32 laps; Daniel Suarez 2 times for 28 laps; Erik Jones 10 times for 25 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 23 laps; Bubba Wallace 6 times for 15 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 9 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 7 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 3 laps; BJ McLeod 2 times for 2 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap; * JJ Yeley(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 1 lap; Ross Chastain 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; Cole Custer 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 23,5,20,24,19,9,45,43,48,47
Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,9,5,19,48,18,10,43,1,45
Keyword: Ross Chastain Wins NASCAR Thriller at Talladega, and Another Watermelon Bites the Dust