Ross Chastain comments on potential third Cup Series team at Trackhouse Racing

As Ross Chastain focuses on getting himself and his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team into the NASCAR Playoffs, expansion is in the background. Trackhouse would love to add another charter for 2025, but is it going to happen?

Stewart-Haas Racing put three charters out on the market this year. Front Row Motorsports has one. Trackhouse and 23XI Racing are the other two teams rumored to be in the market to expand out to three Cup Series cars.

With Shane van Gisbergen, Zane Smith, and yes, even Connor Zilisch signed to Trackhouse – one car might not even be enough!

So, what does Ross Chastain think about all of this? Well, he’s focused on his car and what he is dealing with more than anything else.

“I told any driver under the Trackhouse umbrella as they all look and go through their careers to not look at the No. 1 car, it’s locked up for a long time, and if you, I don’t believe for a minute that I understand what’s going through Justin Marks’ mind,” Chastain said to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Five years ago, I would have never thought a Cup team was in his future and here we are contending for race wins and the playoff with him. And whatever’s next, I’m here for the ride but I’m the driver of the 1 car.”

It's no secret that Trackhouse owner Justin Marks wants to expand to three teams. How Ross Chastain views that potential impact (or how he doesn't). pic.twitter.com/QQkYeJCMyV

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 11, 2024

Now, I think Ross Chastain is right. He is the driver of the No. 1 car and there is not much that is going to change that. However, Chastain has not performed up to expectations this season.

Ross Chastain has not performed in 2024

A quick glance at this year compared to 2022 and 2023 shows that Ross Chastain has fallen off a bit. There aren’t as many top-5 finishes. Definitely lacking in the wins department. That pure, raw speed has not been there.

Then again, it isn’t like Daniel Suárez is a world-beater this season, either. He has had good runs but winning that three-wide finish in Atlanta is what has him in the playoffs and with another year on his contract.

The last time that Chastain earned a top-5 finish was back at Sonoma. His last one before that? Las Vegas! P4 is the best finish for Chastain all season, in fact, so since Vegas it has been downhill.

Even when Ross Chastain is at a track where he has historically done well, he comes up empty handed. He was running well at Nashville with a chance to win in overtime before being wrecked by Kyle Larson. Still, the results have not been showing up, and in this business, that would probably shake my confidence as a driver.