After an incredibly difficult start to the weekend, Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing were able to make a fantastic recovery on Sunday, finishing runner-up to Joey Logano in the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chastain, a native of Alva, Florida, started the weekend off with a dismal 31st-place qualifying result at the 1.5-mile facility, the third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series event in which the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team has started outside the top-30.
This isn’t a brand-new issue for Chastain and Trackhouse Racing, either. Throughout the first 12 races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, the organization has struggled for raw speed on Saturday, giving the 32-year-old driver an average start of 23.5, eight spots worse than last season, and more than three spots lower than his rookie season at NASCAR’s top level.
“Just no confidence in the car yesterday,” Chastain said post-race. “Y’all saw that. Just the speed of the Trackhouse [Racing] cars on Saturdays is just terrible. We’re just not confident, all three drivers.”
The five-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winner spent much of the early portion of the race attempting to claw his way out of the hole dug by a poor qualifying result, and by the end of the race’s first stage had only clawed up to 24th.
So, what was it during Sunday’s event that made Chastain’s Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge-sponsored Chevrolet come to life in the closing stages of the event? Apparently, just a small adjustment.
“An adjustment on a pit stop somewhere around the end of Stage 1, the first half of Stage 2, maybe,” Chastain added. “Phil Surgen and the group did something, and it woke the Tootsie’s Chevrolet up; that was the difference, right there.”
“I think it just shows that we have to bring the car that the driver can be confident in, I just haven’t been confident all yesterday and the beginning of the race, and my teammates were the same way,” Chastain said, looking ahead to Kansas. “As soon as we restarted and they made that adjustment, I like ‘that was incredible, where has that been all weekend?’”
It wasn’t an easy quest, by any means, but as the race went on Chastain continued to get closer and closer to the front of the pack, and as several late restarts broke out, the Trackhouse Racing driver, known for being one of the most aggressive racers on the circuit, was able to gain track position and put himself in position to compete for the win.
“I can’t drive an uncomfortable car. I can’t personally. So, as soon as they got it comfortable or at least gave me some confidence, we started going forward.”
Although it didn’t end up working out, as Chastain couldn’t catch the eventual race-winner Joey Logano in NASCAR Overtime, the result was positive, considering where the afternoon began for the organization.
“Yeah, that’s a working-class day,” Chastain said after climbing from his car. “That’s enough reason to go to Tootsie’s next time I’m in Nashville. I want to head straight there. Gosh, that’s a working day.”
The finish marked Chastain’s second top-five result of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, and his best finish since last Fall at Kansas Speedway, where he collected his most recent win — which is also the racetrack that the series will visit next weekend.
