4 hours ago 1

Ross Chastain Fires Back at Clint Bowyer and Fox Broadcast After Surprise Comment at Texas

After a 40th-place finish in the Daytona 500 to start the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, Ross Chastain had been solid through the first 10 races, scoring five top 10s, including a season-best fifth at Las Vegas.

Coming into Texas, the Trackhouse Racing driver justifiably had high expectations. In 2023, he finished second on the 1.5-mile track. Last year, he was running second behind Chase Elliott on the final lap when William Byron got into the rear of the No. 1 car and sent him for a spin. He finished 32nd.

This year, it would certainly be an uphill climb to replicate those previous efforts after qualifying 31st. Following a relatively quiet first couple of stages, the watermelon farmer suffered a broken jack early in that final stage but steadily began making his way forward.

With 50 laps remaining, he was 15th. With multiple cautions and 25 laps to go, Chastain had moved up to seventh. Then, with nine laps to go, the Fox broadcast, and Clint Bowyer specifically, finally took notice of the No. 1 driver’s progress.

”And Mr. Where did he come from? Chastain is in the picture,” Bowyer noted.

“Ross Chastain up to fourth,” lead announcer Mike Joy said. “Eric Jones to fifth.

“I haven't seen Chastain all day long," Bowyer said. "Closing laps of this race, money on the line, my man is here.”

After the race, the Trackhouse driver visited with reporters and was informed of Bowyer’s late comments.

“Yeah, the broadcast missing something isn't a surprise,” he fired back. “So, yeah, we ground through it. It was a slow progression from start of Stage 3 when our jack broke. From there, we were back in the high twenties or something.

“And then drove all the way up to second. So it was — we didn't just appear there. We weren't an overnight success. That was a full-stage effort.”

Chastain and the Cup Series return to action next week at Kansas. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

Read Entire Article