Trackhouse Racing owner backed his driver Ross Chastain after his fight with Noah Gragson at Kansas Speedway.
Chastain is certainly making a name for himself in the Cup Series with his aggressive driving style. He has had a number of incidents with Cup drivers this season, the latest one being with Noah Gragson at Kansas.
Frustrated with Chastain during the race, Gragson approached Chastain after the race and grabbed his firesuit. In turn, Chastain punched Gragson in the face and only NASCAR’s official intervention saved the situation from turning ugly.
“Nobody else has the balls to at least confront him” – Noah Gragson on fight with Chastain
As a number of drivers show up complaining about Chastain, his team owner Marks has a different perspective as to why his driver acted that way or for his aggressive driving style. Speaking to SiriusXM Radio, Marks said:
“Ross really tried to de-escalate that as much as he could. But I think at some point a man gets pushed to the point where he has to defend himself. That’s what he did.
“Sort of knew that a moment like this was probably in the works. I have spent the last 24 hours thinking back to when I was a fan watching races and thinking about some of these aggressive young drivers that have come up. A lot of them have gone through the same process. Brad went through it, Karl went through it, Tony. These guys show up. They are fast, They are aggressive. They go through this process of learning how to get to a place where they can put a long career together. Those guys figured it out, Ross also figured it out. Sunday was just one of those moments.”
Aggressiveness is not necessarily a bad aspect but a number of drivers are unhappy with the way Chastain drivers. Larson previously said that Chastain’s errors doesn’t affect him negatively but only the other driver.
And Gragson approached Chastain because “nobody else has the balls to at least confront him”.
With as many drivers criticizing Chastain, it will be interesting to see how the narrative towards him develops as the season progresses.