Ross Chastain blames himself for being eliminated from NASCAR Playoffs

This year, Ross Chastain won’t get to one-up himself in the NASCAR Playoffs as he is eliminated in the Round of 12. Chastain won’t have a chance to make a Hail Melon move in the Round of 8 after falling just short at the Roval.

A P10 finish at Charlotte wasn’t enough. He was still double digits outside of the cutline. Two former champions, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, also didn’t make the transfer. Bubba Wallace was the fourth of the eliminations.

While talking to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Ross Chastain put the blame on his own shoulders. His wreck at Talladega is the moment that got him eliminated. He was P2 at Texas, P10 at the Roval. But being second-to-last at Talladega, was too much.

“It all goes back to Talladega, Bob. I think that hesitation and then trying to shoot that gap, I never want to not go for the gap, but right now that hurts because that crash is what did it, right? We scored enough points at Texas, we scored enough here at the Roval but we just can’t wreck Stage 1 at Talladega. Just unacceptable.

“I made that lack of a choice and I shot the gap out of hesitation and now I get to live with that. But I can’t wait to go to sleep and wake up in the morning and start preparations for Vegas.”

Ross Chastain blamed himself for the crash at Talladega, a move he felt kept him from advancing to the next round. He finished 10th at Charlotte and ended up 12 points short. pic.twitter.com/dEWiORfngk

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 9, 2023

Trackhouse Racing only had one car in the playoffs. Now, in the Round of 8, they won’t have any. It’s a tough road to Phoenix, and only four drivers can make it. Chastain should look forward to Vegas, he has a real chance to win there.

Ross Chastain loses out, AJ Allmendinger spoils the party

Throughout the race, Chastain made some good moves, picked up stage points, and scored a top-10. In any other circumstance, he likely does transfer. The Roval just didn’t deliver the same level of chaos we are accustomed to.

Of course, the Next Gen car has a lot to do with that. It is a sports car, and it races on the road really well. Arguably, too well. There were some instances in Stage 3 where the long run eventually caught up with drivers. Still, not a lot of playoff disruption.

With AJ Allmendinger winning, it removed Kyle Busch’s chance of advancing. He had to win at the Roval and came up short in third to The Dinger and William Byron.

Without drivers like Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick having poor days on the track, the ones who needed big points just couldn’t catch up. The playoff drivers that had a cushion all were decent on the day. The ones below the line mostly didn’t advance their position by meaningful margins.

It was a race between Tyler Reddick and Keselowski for that final spot. Reddick ended up winning out. So, Ross Chastain, Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Busch are all out.