When Ross Chastain discovered Justin Marks was purchasing Chip Ganassi Racing in June 2021, he believed his NASCAR Cup Series career had ended even before it truly began. He was caught in a storm he didn’t anticipate, just a year into living his NASCAR dream.
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“I’m out. It’s over again. So yeah, that’s what I thought. Which isn’t the right way to think about it cuz I had no idea. I didn’t know, but I just that’s what naturally hit me.”
When discussing Marks’ unexpected choice to purchase Ganassi’s NASCAR business in 2021, Chastain recounted the incident on the latest episode of Racin’ With The Boys.
At the time, the Florida native had little reason to believe his future was secure. Marks had declared that two Cup cars would be fielded by Trackhouse Racing in 2022. One slot was already occupied by Daniel Suárez, and the identity of the second driver was still unknown. Kurt Busch and Chastain, Ganassi drivers, were Marks’ top picks.
But the uncertainty was a huge burden for Ross Chastain. Before eventually landing the No. 42 Chevrolet with Chip Ganassi Racing, he had to fight his way through underfunded teams for years. It was intended that the 2021 season would be his chance to demonstrate that he belonged at the top level of NASCAR.
Rather, there was a high learning curve throughout his first year. Ross Chastain did produce a runner-up finish at Nashville. However, his season also included 39th place run during O’Reilly race at Daytona and 37th place finish at Charlotte in Cup. Those results made the prospect of becoming a free agent even more uncomfortable.
There was more to the issue than a single poor run of races. Ross Chastain had spent years developing aggressive habits simply to survive in underfunded equipment. In order to compete against well-known Cup stars, he now had to unlearn some of them.
That transition, he subsequently said, was a very humble mental grind. And if something went wrong, he had no safety net to fall back on. This is something that he had mentioned right at the start of the year.
“As a racer, yeah, I don’t want to go fail. So, there is no alternative. There is no Plan B. We have the farm and grow and sell watermelons, but yeah, as a racer, I want to succeed, and I want to do my job. So, yeah, this is it.”
That way of thinking explains why he was so affected by the three simple words on his phone (of Marks acquiring Ganassi). Ross Chastain’s initial reaction upon learning that Marks had purchased Ganassi was not one of opportunity. It was that all he had strived for was vanishing in an instant.
Thankfully, that worry did not materialize. On August 3, 2021, Trackhouse announced that Chastain and Suárez would be driving its No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 starting in 2022.
Today Chastain is the lead driver at Trackhouse, but his future with the organization remains to be a hot topic of discussion. With Connor Zilisch confirmed to join Hendrick Motorsports, there are teams in the garage looking to lure in talented drivers like Chastain and SVG. It’s worth noting the melon man’s contract with Trackhouse expires after 2027.
It will be interesting to see how Trackhouse and Chastain deal with the situation.