Ross Chastain hasn’t paid attention to the 2027 NASCAR schedule updates.
He’s seen the date and track notifications trickling out but has largely ignored them. There’s a reason.
“I’m not looking at next year yet,” he told the News-Journal.
Despite saying last week the margin between his 21st spot in the standings and the playoff cutline felt “insurmountable" due to a lack of speed, Chastain remains alive.
He finished seventh at Iowa over the weekend, his best showing in a month and a half, and jumped to 18th in the standings. He sits 47 points back of 16th-place Austin Cindric with three races left in the regular season.
Chastain said that slump-buster changed the whole vibe of his Trackhouse Racing shop.
“It was incredible, man,” he said. “I walked in with a smile, and there were a bunch of smiles looking right back at me.”
They wore those grins through Monday. Then, it came time to lock back in for Richmond.
Chastain thrived throughout the Iowa weekend. He qualified ninth on Saturday and led 40 laps Sunday, third-most of anyone in the race.
What were the keys to success?
“I wish I knew,” Chastain said after a sigh and a chuckle.
He just felt fast for the first time in a while.
“That’s why we do it,” he said. “That’s why so many folks dedicate their careers to what we do at Trackhouse, and it’s not to go slow.”
And it has to continue.
Especially with time running out on his Chase hopes.
The next two events will take place at short tracks, Richmond and New Hampshire. Then, the regular season concludes at super-sized Daytona International Speedway. That wild-card could drastically help or drastically hurt him, which makes the next two weekends even more crucial in salvaging a disappointing campaign.
Chastain owns just five top-10s and one top-five this year. It’s his first season without a win since 2021, before he joined Trackhouse.
“The (Iowa) speed cannot just be a splash in the water here,” he said. “... I know my mindset has not changed because we have to show up and be fast again at Richmond.”
So ...
“Call me Austin Dillon,” Chastain said of the two-time defending winner of the Cook Out 400.
“I want to be as fast as them. It’s definitely impressive what they’ve been able to do. As a Chevy teammate, it’s been impressive to watch, and now I want to be more like him. He’s been great as a teammate at Chevy to help me. Not saying I can replicate it. But I’m going to try to keep up with him this weekend.”
Tire management looms large at Richmond. The surface has not been repaved since 2004, and it’s known for chewing rubber.
Dillon has mastered the formula.
Chastain doesn’t feel like he’s done a great job of handling that aspect in the past. He’s ranked inside the top 10 only three times in 13 starts at Richmond.
But the bottom line:
“You can’t go slow,” Chastain said. “You can’t start 30th and think you’re going to drive by them on long runs. You’ve got to be close enough to the front to take advantage on the long runs if you do take care of your tires.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: This NASCAR driver saw an insurmountable Chase gap. Now he sees a chance