NASCAR CUP SERIES NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MAY 30, 2026 |
Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Nashville Superspeedway. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
NASCAR CUP SERIESNASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESMAY 30, 2026 |
Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Nashville Superspeedway. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Media Availability Quotes: Over the last off-season, Chevrolet made some changes to the body of the car. Now that we’re 13 races in, do you feel like your team, not only your team, but all the Chevrolet teams have a good handle on those changes?“Have you seen those videos online where they grease up a watermelon, throw it in the air, see if they can catch it? That’s what it feels like (laughs). We’re trying. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re working hard?” What kind of differences in the feel of the car do you have from this year back to last year?“It seems like, for me, when the car changes pitch or attitude on the track, like if it just moves, it reacts differently each time or more dramatically. I can’t really feel it changing much more. It’s not like I can feel it pull a wheelie or put the nose down on the ground, but just the balance changes corner to corner and even throughout the corner sometimes. It’s just not as consistent for me driving the No. 1 car, where last year and years past, we could kind of get the car set and then I could have a consistent balance and know what I had corner to corner. I don’t feel like I have that right now.” How can the No. 1 team use this weekend as a springboard for the rest of the second-half of this regular season?“I’d say first, the springboard, we don’t need to break it. We’ve been breaking it too much recently. So yeah, I think that competition-wise, are we competitive? We’ve got to be finishing these races. I’ve not finished in a little while here, just in general of racing. So yeah, I need to finish and then we want more speed. I want to race with a different group of cars than I’ve been racing with.” Do you feel like you’ve seen any signs of optimism in recent weeks? Obviously Shane (van Gisbergen) had a great run really from start to finish last week. When you see something like that, does that give you optimism that the team as a whole is closer to finding what you need to be successful?“I’m optimistic every Monday afternoon. That’s when I turn the page. I’ve done this long enough to know it can come in waves and circles, pun intended, so I’m ready for the next chapter here. We’re working hard to get it. I know it’s not just going to show up. It’s going to come through the work we’re doing, and I feel like we’re doing the right work.” You’ve been pretty adamant about Shane’s progression on ovals. Where do you think he’s improved the most lately?“I mean, he just didn’t do a lot of other things in his past. He did dirt track stuff, but no big concrete tracks, big steep banked asphalt tracks or high speed mile-and-a-halves. So yeah, I think he just he’s learned. He’s a racer. He puts the tire to the limit, and he’s finding that limit. And then, Stephen (Doran, crew chief) is giving him the cars he needs so he can push the gas.” You’re talking about looking to the rest of the season. The best you’ve finished at Michigan is sixth, which is your last race. What’s something you can do or the team can do for Michigan to get past sixth to the top-five?“Yeah, that balance and the pitch of the car I talked about; getting that set and having that right when we unload. Qualifying well, for sure, which starts here with a finish that puts us on a better metric score so we can go out later. We can watch other drivers’ commitment level. The team can make adjustments to the car with air pressure and things right before we qualify, based on our teammates. Hopefully, we all go out in the final three because we run so good here. But yeah, just starting with a good finish here for a good metric score, which rolls into a good qualifying effort after a good practice session. And then, go race. I’ve taken us out of the shot to win there by crashing on a pit cycle when I didn’t need to and avoiding that would be top of mind for me, as well, if wherever we pop out through a green flag cycle area and stage three.” |