NASCAR: 5 drivers who could retaliate against Ross Chastain

Ross Chastain has had a number of incidents and run-ins with other drivers this season, which may come back to haunt him in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Ross Chastain has been one of NASCAR‘s most electric drivers in 2022, making risky, aggressive moves throughout the Cup Series season. A couple times, it has landed the driver of the #1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet in victory lane.

Chastain’s aggressive driving has gotten plenty of attention from his competitors, but more often than not, only after he ran into them.

As the playoffs approach, Chastain, who is thought to be among the favorites to get to the Championship 4, may now have to face the repercussions of his aggressive actions earlier this season.

Multiple drivers still may feel that they need to settle the score, and the playoffs may be the most opportune time to do so. Who are these drivers?

Drivers who could retaliate against Ross Chastain: No. 1 – Chase Elliott

During the event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Chastain had run-ins with multiple drivers, including NASCAR’s most popular, Chase Elliott. On lap 103, Chastain dove to the inside of Elliott, putting the driver of the #9 Chevrolet on the outside of a three-wide situation.

Chastain then clipped Elliott’s car and spun the #9 Chevrolet off turn four, bringing out a yellow flag. Elliott’s team made repairs and he was able to continue racing. On the restart following the incident, Elliott bumped Chastain and sent him far out of the racing groove, costing the #1 team numerous positions.

For much of the season, Chastain was Elliott’s biggest threat to winning the regular season championship and the driver closest to him in playoff points, giving Elliott extra incentive to retaliate.

However, since the incident at Gateway, the two have kept their noses clean around each other and no incidents have taken place. Additionally, Elliott’s more recent beef appears to be with teammate Kyle Larson, which may distract him from the incident that took place nearly half a season ago.

The likelihood of Elliott provoking a situation seems low at the moment, but with Chastain being one of his closest competitors for the championship, Elliott may feel more comfortable racing Chastain particularly harder as the series approaches Phoenix Raceway.