“Holy cow, we just won the 600!” Ross Chastain’s ecstatic release after clinching the Coca-Cola 600 victory was something to witness. While taking enormous bites of his farm’s watermelons, the first thing he talked about to the pit reporter was his team. Everything that Trackhouse Racing was up to in the past two days. The sweat and love that the No. 1 Chevrolet team put into the car carried Chastain from last to first, and his team owner, Justin Marks, also believes that.
Sunday’s race was a thriller from top to bottom. While star drivers like Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, and others saw their chances go up in smoke in wrecks, Ross Chastain was a quiet contender. He took down race leader William Byron’s lead with 5 to go. And that was a result of tireless dedication.
Ross Chastain had an army at his side
Trackhouse Racing is a relatively new team, trying to catch up with the legacy Cup Series teams. When Justin Marks first founded the team in 2020, it was a fledgling effort based on Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR assets. Daniel Suarez joined in 2021, and then Ross Chastain in 2022. Over just 3 years, Chastain has proven himself to be a high-flyer. In 2025, the melon farmer has put up a consistent streak of 7 top-ten finishes and 3 top-fives consistently. Consequently, his team decided to put in extra effort for the Coca-Cola 600 when Chastain cut his tires in practice. With the primary car suspended, the team went all in to churn out an equal or even better backup car for the Charlotte crown jewel event.
According to Justin Marks, the pureness of that dedication cannot be overstated. In a recent interview with Sirisu XM NASCAR, the Trackhouse chief said, “It’s so impressive and it’s such a testament to what we at the company work so hard at…We had day mechanics and staff of the company that had the weekend off, they live 30,40 minutes away…dropped everything that they were doing and drove to the race shop on Saturday night just to be there and help in any way that they could.” He added, “The response from the company, everybody, all hands on deck, working at the race shop until 2:30 in the morning, Ross’ mom was there, everybody came in, they ordered pizzas…Couple guys went home, took showers, came right back, didn’t sleep at all, finished off the (backup) car.”
“Just magic, I mean it was a beautiful expression of teamwork, and everything that we are all about at Trackhouse.”
@TeamTrackhouse owner, @JustinMarksTH explains what it took to get @RossChastain the Coca-Cola 600 win in a backup car.
More https://t.co/WGRTG5gnEd pic.twitter.com/J1GCuCPoHW
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) May 27, 2025
The main purpose was to bring out the speed of the temporary car as close to the primary one. Justin Marks said, “So the guys worked really, really hard on the primary car, just really focused on the aerodynamics, the body, and the splitter – all the things that get speed at mile-and-a-halfs…Just tried to replicate as best they could how hard they had worked on the primary car.” It all paid off in the end, as Ross Chastain toppled the fastest car, the No. 24 Chevrolet, in Charlotte. Marks continued, “The numbers looked pretty close (between the primary and backup cars), felt like we had something to work with, and then just magic. I don’t know how else to describe it. It was a beautiful expression of teamwork and everything that we are all about at Trackhouse.”
The No. 1 Chevrolet team clearly overdid themselves and extracted the sweetest fruit. Justin Marks also could not help but reflect on his driver’s evolution.
The maturity is finally visible
Remember Ross Chastain in 2023? The melon farmer had a penchant for getting into wild brawls and conflicts with his rivals. In a 2023 Darlington race, the No. 1 driver pressed 2021 Cup Series champ Kyle Larson in a late-race duel that ended in stock-car shrapnel. Then, after on-track aggression at Kansas Speedway, Chastain got into a sparring session with Noah Gragson, both landing blows on their cheeks. This rowdy reputation brought raised eyebrows, as Chastain became a controversial rabble-rouser. It also led to some stern discussions with his team owner. However, there was a path of improvement, and Chastain took it. In 2024, the driver was not involved in any major controversy. In 2025, he came close to it when he bizarrely spun out Chase Elliott at COTA, but let that subside soon.
Standing in May 2025, Justin Marks is proud of how far Ross Chastain has matured. Marks compared him to Cup Series champions who were also rabble-rousers in their youth. For instance, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski notoriously got into conflicts, but at the same time carved out brilliant careers. Marks said, “I think of, like, Brad Keselowski and some of these guys that showed up and ruffled some feathers. And then they figured out how to settle into a place where they can harness their talent and their speed into a way that’s really productive in the races…I think that’s the evolution that Ross has gone through…I think it just comes with time and experience. He’s a very, very intelligent person, very cerebral.”
Clearly, Ross Chastain is wholeheartedly devoting himself to self-growth. Along with a stellar team’s support, the sky is the limit for the star driver.
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