NASCAR star admits 'unacceptable' mistakes after playoff heartbreak

Ross Chastain blamed himself for Sunday’s agonizing NASCAR Cup Series exit at Charlotte after an afternoon of total misery at the Roval.

The 32-year-old Trackhouse Racing star from Alva, Florida somehow failed to overhaul three-time champion Joey Logano to climb above the cutline after what he described as 'unacceptable' mistakes in the Bank of America Roval 400.

While many analysts were focused on Denny Hamlin unwittingly passing Chastain on the final lap to put Logano above the cutline, Ross instead shone a light on his own unforced errors earlier in the day. Notably a pair of very costly messups on pit road.

Eventually Chastain would be left with no option but to try a pass on Hamlin at the final chicane of the day, wrecking the No. 11 car in the process and then having to reverse his No. 1 Chevrolet over the line. It was the craziest, most fitting end to a chaotic day at the office.

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Ross Chastain takes full responsibility

When he spoke to media post-race, Chastain took full responsibility for his failure to advance to the Round of 8, explaining: “I’d restart the whole day.

“For Trackhouse Racing, they expect so much more out of me. And to speed on pit road, I went off the end of pit road and didn’t turn. I had more room and just trying to get to the yellow line. and just completely started the downfall there and then came out of the pit stall and double clicked up into third (gear) and Just unforced errors. It’s just terrible.”

Chastain spoke emotionally about what this meant for the wider Trackhouse organization, and the guilt he felt after the finish of Sunday’s race.

“So it’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse, our teammates, our ECR engines. Everybody that makes this go around. Justin (Marks) hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and to be the leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. So, yeah, not acceptable. Like, just completely unacceptable.”

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