Ross Chastain takes dominant, redemptive first win of 2023 NASCAR season at Nashville

Take a bow, Ross Chastain.

Or better yet: Smash a watermelon.

The driver of the No. 1 car put on a dominant show on Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway — starting from the pole for the first time in his career and leading a race-best 99 laps en route to his first win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

In celebratory tradition, the TrackHouse Racing driver and former eighth-generation farmer then crushed his favorite fruit at the start-finish line.

The driver who has been chastised for being too aggressive this season then seemed to let go of something else.

“This is for every little kid out there anywhere in the world, when you get criticized, and you’re going to if you’re competitive, they will try to tear you down. You will start believing you can’t do it,” Chastain told NBC Sports a few seconds after his celebratory burnout, a huge smile on his face. “You have to go to your people, trust in the process, read your books, trust the big man’s plan upstairs, just keep getting up and going to work.”

He continued: “I got to tell you, (there was) a lot of self reflection throughout all this. I had a group that believed in me and they didn’t let me get down. They bring rocket ships and I just try to point them to Victory Lane.”

The win effectively puts Chastain in the playoffs for a second straight season. It delivers his third win of his career and his first on an intermediate oval.

And it also seems to redeem Chastain from a few of the oh-so-close wins some say he squandered for racing too aggressively early in the season.

“That’s just a desire to win,” Chastain said of his extensive victory celebration. “I got to tell you, it’s just so hard at this level. It’s the best of the best. It’s where I’ve wanted to be since I was 18 years old, from studying for over 10 years just to qualify better let alone go race for a Cup race win.

“Along the way, the journey, I’m so happy that my group is here, everybody that supports me. Yeah, look, it’s a Cup win. I don’t care what happened last month, the rest of my life, it’s a freaking Cup win!”

Martin Truex Jr. finished second. Denny Hamlin ended third.

We can just come out and say it: This was a fun race. Every restart was chaotic — including a Stage 2 restart that featured the top three cars running three-wide for three laps — and passing was abundant.

There were 12 different leaders on Sunday. Among them (besides Chastain): Hamlin led 81 laps, Truex led 50, Tyler Reddick led 33 and Kyle Busch led 12.

It was also clean. There were only four cautions for 24 laps on Sunday — a pleasant surprise after Saturday’s wreck-cluttered Xfinity Series race.

And it was Chastain who emerged victorious.

The optimal point in the race for Chastain came on Lap 233, late in Stage 3, when he passed Hamlin with ease. No one could catch him after that. A clutch trip down pit lane a few laps later sustained his one-second lead over the rest of the field, and that was that.

Chastain is now the 11th winner in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. That means 11 of 16 spots in the playoffs are accounted for. Will Chase Elliott seize a win and sneak into the playoffs in the final nine races of the season? Can Kevin Harvick get in on points alone?

Chastain doesn’t have those worries anymore.

“To win at Nashville is absolutely incredible,” Chastain said.

Big 3 observations

▪ Ryan Blaney had to end his day early. The driver of the 12 car got caught in the mess that was a Stage 2 restart and spun out — wrecking his nose of the car with the inside retaining wall. Blaney, thus, was the only driver to not finish Sunday’s race. He spoke about the hit after emerging from the infield care center.

“It’s a shame, ending our night early,” Blaney said. “I thought we actually, finally got decent air at the start of the second stage. I don’t really know what happened. Someone checked up on the restart I guess. I kind of checked up, got hit from behind. I didn’t know if they were wrecking, and I just couldn’t get it straightened out. When I got out of the grass, I thought I was going to come back around, and that I’d be OK. Just never got back right.

“I don’t know why there’s no safer barrier there. That’s pretty ridiculous, honestly. Hardest hit I’ve ever had in my life. Happy to be all right, but it sucks for the Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Stinks to go home early.”

▪ 23XI Racing sees a promising day end on a low note. Tyler Reddick won Stage 1. Bubba Wallace finished in the Top 10 of Stage 2. But both saw unfortunate mishaps on pit road bury their contending chances. (Reddick spun out and lost a wheel on pit road; Wallace saw a 16-second pit stop in between Stage 2 and 3 bury him late.) It’s particularly unfortunate because team part-owner Michael Jordan was in attendance.

▪ Despite Chastain’s win for Chevy, it was a great day for Toyota. At one point, Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing had all four of its drivers in the Top 10. Truex and Hamlin finished P2 and P3. All in all, it was a good day, Toyota reps said.

“We’re usually going to find ourselves with a shot to win most weeks, as long as we don’t make any mistakes and keep our track position,” Hamlin said post-race. “That’s what we did today.”

Added Truex: “Overall good night for our Bass Pro Tracker Toyota Camry. Guys are doing a great job. Just that close again.”