NASCAR takeaways: Ross Chastain shows growth in Nashville win

LEBANON, Tenn. — Ross Chastain snapped a 42-race winless streak Sunday night, a streak that went longer than it should have.

Chastain saw several potential wins slip away, some of his own doing with what many would view as taking too many chances at inopportune times. The biggest came in early May when he crashed another driver early at Dover and then a couple weeks later battling for the lead late in the race at Darlington, leading to criticism from opposing team owner Rick Hendrick and some talks with his team owner, Justin Marks, about how to close the deal.

In recent weeks, Chastain has seemed a little less aggressive, causing speculation that maybe he could have trouble finding the right mix of aggressiveness and execution to win races. But he appeared to find the right recipe Sunday with his victory at Nashville Superspeedway.

"I technically didn't run into anybody," Chastain said. "That's great. ... I'm evolving. I'm learning. If I wanted to wreck every week, I had that figured out.

[Related: Polarizing star Ross Chastain addresses criticism: ‘I just need to hit less things’] 

"I want to win. I want to wreck less and win more. That's been our process to get that better."

Chastain outdueled two of the top drivers in the series — Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin — for the victory.

Here are takeaways from the race at Nashville, where Chastain, Truex and Hamlin were followed by Hendrick drivers Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson across the finish line.

Growth For Chastain

Chastain, who admitted the criticism is tough, showed his growth by being able to disrupt the air behind him to keep Truex at bay at the end.

"This is why every little kid out there anywhere in the world, when you get criticized — and you're going to if you're competitive — they will try to tear you down," said Chastain, who had earned his first career pole a day earlier in qualifying. "You will start believing you can't do it. 

"You have to go to your people, trust in the process, read your books, trust the big man's plan upstairs, just keep getting up and going to work."

Team owner Justin Marks obviously was ecstatic about the win as he has visions for having a presence in Nashville as part of the Trackhouse entertainment brand (the team is co-owned by musician Pitbull).

But the biggest thing for Chastain was just winning a race he should win. It also was his first win that came at a traditional oval track as his two victories last year came at the Circuit of the Americas road course (where he had drama with AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman on the final lap) and at the Talladega Superspeedway (where the two drivers ahead of him wrecked and he just drove straight as the seas parted and won).

"We've had a lot of races where he's been sitting in race-winning cars with race-winning speed, and it hasn't turned out that way," Marks said. "When we get to a moment like this ... to be able to take all of that pressure and make the right moves, make the right decisions, that's a driver learning how to compete at this level and compete at this series.

"Personally for him, this is a really, really big win."

Momentum for Truex, Elliott

Truex earned his fourth consecutive top-5 finish and increased his regular-season points lead to 18 points over William Byron and Chastain.

There are nine races left in the regular season, and the bonus points for winning the regular-season title could be pivotal in the playoffs.

"We try to get as many points as we can every week so another good day in that regard," Truex said. "You just try to do the best you can every week."

Another driver who could have some momentum is Elliott, who has missed seven races this year (six for a broken leg and one for a suspension). He finished fifth at Sonoma in his first race back from the benching and followed that with a fourth Sunday.

He is 64 points behind the current playoff cutoff so still likely needs to win to make the playoffs, although getting in on points isn't totally out of the question.

"You put yourself in the top-5 and you open up opportunities to play a little different strategy — something might go your way even if you don't have the outright pace," Elliott said. "I think we can have the pace, too. I don't think we were light-years off."

Blaney Frustrated After Crash

Ryan Blaney said he was OK after a hard crash into an inside concrete wall that did not have the SAFER Barrier that is used on most walls at relatively high-speed tracks.

NASCAR uses the University of Nebraska as its consultant for where barriers need to be, and there have been barrier additions at Nashville since NASCAR returned there for Cup racing in 2021. 

"I'm sure they'll put one on it after this," Blaney said. "It sucks that things like that have to happen, someone hit a wall head-on like that. ... Why are you not doing the whole track? I'll pay for the whole [expletive] thing.'

NASCAR wouldn't totally commit to putting SAFER Barrier in that section.

"NASCAR safety engineers work closely with safety experts on the implementation of barriers around the track," NASCAR said in a statement.

"As we do following every race weekend, we will evaluate all available data and make any necessary improvements."

Blaney said on his in-car radio in the seconds following the crash that he needed help. He walked out of the infield medical center and said he just needed a moment. 

"I just needed a second to catch my breath," Blaney said. "I feel fine."

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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