NASCAR Cup Series In Atlanta Sees Ross Chastain Cause Two More Wrecks
Ross Chastain is a very aggressive driver. Many are starting to say, too aggressive. Chastain was involved in two wrecks this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway that most observers believed he initiated. The first wreck was on the 91st lap and involved multiple cars.
After the crash, Aric Almirola was caught on his open mike to his pits complaining about Chastain's driving, "He's a f*cking idiot and he knows it.... He better hope I don't see him at Food Lion."
The second crash came with fifteen laps to go when Chastain clipped Denny Hamlin's bumper and sent him spinning. Hamlin's day was done, and Chastain stayed up front.
Reporters had also caught up with Hamlin soon after the incident on pit road and he said, "It's another unfortunate situation.... Everyone has a different tolerance level, and I've reached my peak."
Ross Chastain was interviewed after the race and had a different view of the late crash. "This one's so different because I had so much damage. Y'all know I would take full responsibility if I just ran into him, but I had so much damage and was so much tighter. We had done a lot to free up the car and it was just too tight, and I couldn't carry the throttle, like I did earlier, and I still needed to lift up some, but it wasn't enough. I don't put this anywhere near the other ones.
Local Atlanta native Chase Elliott won the race with Chastain close in chase, finishing second. After the race, his #1 car showed the damage that the multiple crashes had caused.
Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Austin Dillon get added to the list with Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson and A.J. Almendinger, that have a beef with Chastain. He will compete in the Playoffs but is going to be looking over his shoulder a lot, with a lot of racers lining up to put him into the fence.