Ross Chastain is certainly making a name, and enemies, for himself week after week in the 2023 Cup Series season.
Chastain has always been known for his aggressive driving style but the 2023 season is seeing this constantly as he keeps on wrecking drivers week after week.
The latest one to fall victim to this is Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 driver Kyle Larson. He made contact with Larson at Darlington Raceway, thereby ending both their chances of winning the race.
Kyle Busch urges NASCAR to give drivers 30 seconds to punch each other
Chastain’s recent action has got the attention of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick who, in fact, warned Chastain that payback might be coming if he keeps on wrecking other drivers.
“I don’t care if he’s driving a Chevrolet if he wrecks our cars. I don’t care, and I told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back. And if you don’t, they’ll run all over you. I’m not going to ask them to yield just because it’s Chevrolet,”Hendrick said.
Hendrick also advised Chastain to cut down on his aggression. He praised Chastain’s talent but warned him that if he keeps on making enemies, it would be hard to win races.
“I think you can ask any driver in here that he’s wrecked or been involved with him; he doesn’t have to be that aggressive. I guess at this point in the race, maybe you’re super-aggressive but don’t run people up into the fence.
“He’s going to make a lot of enemies, and it’s hard to win a championship when you got a lot of paybacks out there. He’s got so much talent; I think if he just calmed down that there’s a time in the race,” Hendrick added.
This is not the first time Larson has had issues with Chastian. However, Larson afterwards said that Chastain could be more popular than Chase Elliott and even praised the Trackhouse Racing driver. But, given the new situation, Larson might want to change his opinion.
Denny Hamlin already retaliated against him on the race track and Noah Gragson outside the track. But the way things are developing, it seems like these won’t be the last times this season.