Chastain Breaks Out with COTA Victory

Ross Chastain won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas to pick up his first career victory on Sunday afternoon.

Chastain has had a strong start to the season, with three consecutive top three finishes headed into COTA. Chastain put it all together on Sunday, and ran up front for a majority of the race.

Chastain had to hold off challenges from Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman late in the race as numerous cautions forced multiple restarts. 

Allmendinger, one of the best road course racers, pressured Chastain over the final two laps. Chastain and Allmendinger made contact throughout the final lap, which ended with Allmendinger spun out in the sand trap and Chastain cruising to the checkered flag.

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Chastain said he knew Allmendinger would be upset after helping Chastain to become a better road racer.

“To go up against some of the best with AJ, I know he’s going to be upset with me,” Chastain said.  “We raced hard, both of us.  I’ve learned so much from him.”

Chastain said he knew his Trackhouse Racing team was close to getting to victory lane after strong runs for him and teammate Daniel Suarez.

“People don’t know how good this group is,” Chastain said.  “When it comes to a Cup win, I can’t let that go down without a fight.”

Allmendinger said he was proud of his team for putting together a car that could contend for the win.

“At the end of the day, we know we had a shot to win the race,” Allmendinger said.  “Proud of Kaulig Racing, the Chevy was so fast.  At the end of the day, each person’s got to make the move that they’re comfortable with.”

Bowman inserted himself into the battle for the lead on the final lap, and finished second after Allmendinger spun off track. 

Bowman said he has worked on his road course racing, which helped put him in position to battle for the win.

“I’ve really been trying to do a better job as a racecar driver at these road courses,” Bowman said.  “We had a really fast Ally Camaro. Hate that we didn’t come away with the win.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ross Chastain

2. Alex Bowman

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Tyler Reddick

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Austin Cindric

9. Erik Jones

10. Austin Dillon

11. Kevin Harvick

12. William Byron

13. Michael McDowell

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Justin Haley

16. Todd Gilliland

17. Harrison Burton

18. Denny Hamlin

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ty Dillon

21. Chris Buescher

22. Josh Bilicki

23. Cole Custer

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Kaz Grala

26. Boris Said

27. Cody Ware

28. Kyle Busch

29. Kyle Larson

30. Chase Briscoe

31. Joey Logano

32. Kurt Busch

33. AJ Allmendinger

34. Loris Hezemans

35. Joey Hand

36. Corey LaJoie

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38. Bubba Wallace

39. Andy Lally

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