Jeff Burton breaks down Ross Chastain's slide since Darlington

Ross Chastain has endured a pretty rough stretch over the past month. The fiery and controversial NASCAR Cup Series driver hasn’t really put together a strong performance since the circuit’s trip to Kansas on May 7.

Chastain’s last three placements have all been outside the top-10. He finished 22nd in each of the last two races — the Coca-Cola 600 and Enjoy Illinois 300. He finished 29th in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington.

As a result, Chastain slipped from the No. 1 spot in the driver rankings down to fifth. On a recent NASCAR on NBC podcast, former driver and current analyst Jeff Burton gave his take on Chastain’s recent slide.

“He’s trying to adjust to not being the center of everything every week. And that’s an exaggeration, but I’m sure that’s the way it feels,” Burton said. “And the success isn’t there. So, this is a major challenge.

“Pulling the reins back on a guy … is a big adjustment. And it doesn’t happen overnight. He’s raced this way for years. People don’t like racing with him. It’s not Ross’s job to make people like racing with him. That’s not his job. His job is to do his job for his team and himself. And it’s a challenge to change who you are midstream.

“Has it affected him? I don’t think there’s any doubt. Because he’s a human being.”

Burton admitted that he’s been critical of Chastain in the past. He also stated that he believes the driver does need to make some changes, but that it takes “years” for those adjustments to be made. It’s not easy to find success while changing your approach over the course of NASCAR’s regular season.

Can Ross Chastain bounce back?

The NASCAR season is far from over and Chastain still sits in a pretty good spot at No. 5 in the Cup Series standings. Still, there’s reason for concern given his recent struggles.

Chastain started the year off hot and seemed like a lock to land inside the top-10 every single week. He landed in the top-10 six times in the first 13 races, finishing in the top-15 an additional four times.

Five times, he landed in the top-five.

Despite his consistency on the track, Chastain wasn’t able to secure a checkered flag in the first half of NASCAR’s regular season. Now, that seems even more challenging considering his recent struggles.

Burton eluded to Chastain needing more time before finding success on the track with a new approach. But can the driver figure out a way to weather the storm and produce more consistent results in the near future?