Inspection Report: Ross Chastain Officially Secures First-Career NASCAR Cup Series Win in Dramatic Fashion at COTA

Ross Chastain has officially scored his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win in a dramatic finish at COTA. Chastain has passed post-race inspection. Photo Credit: Tim Parks / HHP and General Motors.

Post-race technical inspection following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas has been completed.

Ross Chastain’s race-winning No. 1 ONX Homes / iFly Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro has passed. As a result, NASCAR has declared Chastain and his team the official winners of the race.

This marks the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series win for Chastain and it’s the first victory in the history of the Trackhouse Racing team, as well. Chastain, in addition to scoring the win, also led a race-high 31 laps in the effort.

Following his patented race-winning watermelon smash celebration, where he actually took a bit of the smooshed melon, Chastain said he’s not sure how he battled back for the win.

“It’s never tasted sweeter, I got to tell you,” Chastain said of the watermelon. “I don’t know. I don’t know how we got back by. I was so worried about AJ [Allmendinger] on the second-to-last restart that I let Tyler [Reddick] drive right by both of us.”

No issues were detected in post-race inspection, which means all results and standings following Sunday’s race are now considered official.

Alex Bowman is officially scored as the second-place finisher on Sunday, while Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-five finishers.

Race Results

Race Results: 2022 NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix

Driver Standings

NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings

Owner Standings

NASCAR Cup Series Owner Standings

Race Recap

Video: Ross Chastain Initiates Contact on Allmendinger, Bowman to Score First-Career Cup Win in Frantic Finish

Video Highlights / Other Race Stories

Video: Ross Chastain Initiates Contact on Allmendinger, Bowman to Score First-Career Cup Win in Frantic Finish

Video: Wheel Flies Off Bubba Wallace’s Car in Turn 16 on Lap 45 at COTA

Video: Daniel Suarez, Stage One Winner, Gets Turned by Corey LaJoie on Restart at COTA

Video: Chase Elliott Sends Kyle Busch For a Spin in Turn 12 at COTA on Lap 10

Video: Ryan Blaney Spins in NASCAR Cup Series Practice at COTA, Suffers Minimal Damage

Video: Joey Hand Suffers Tons of Damage After Shredded Tire Obliterates Right Front Fender of Car

No. 78 Car Fails Pre-Race Inspection Three Times, Four Other Cars Fail Twice

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Toby Christie

Toby is the Founder, and Editor-in-Chief of TobyChristie.com. Toby is also the co-host of The Final Lap Weekly Podcast. Additionally, he is an award-winning writer, and has followed the sport as a fan since 1993.