Chastain playing it ‘cool’ despite nerves

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ross Chastain skyrocketed to motorsports infamy for wall-riding his way into NASCAR’S championship race with a video-game-style move that has overshadowed the finale and his fellow title contenders.

With that comes a ton of pressure on the eighth-generation Florida watermelon farmer and journeyman NASCAR driver who once took a side gig driving a motorhome to races just to earn extra cash.

This year, his first with second-year team Trackhouse Racing, has been the breakout the 29-year-old has long been chasing. Chastain’s decision to slam his Chevrolet into the Martinsville Speedway wall and ride it into the fourth and final playoff spot just might have made him the fan favorite in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway.

In his 151st career Cup start, Chastain will race for his first championship.

“There are nerves and there’s anxiety and there is

fear of failure. How cool is it that I’m getting to experience this?” he said. “In the moment, it’s not pleasant, the nerves. I wish they would go away.”

The field is stacked. Christopher Bell has been red-hot with two walk-off wins in a pair of playoff elimination races to advance to his first championship. Bell is the only Toyota driver in the field.

Joey Logano is Ford’s only representative but will try to give Roger Penske both

the NASCAR and Indycar championships in the same season. Will Power won the Indycar title for Team Penske in September and the organization has never won both championships in the same season.

And then there’s Chase Elliott, the 2020 champion who began a streak of two consecutive Cup championships for Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Larson was eliminated in the first round, so Elliott in his Chevrolet is Hendrick’s only shot at

winning three straight Cup titles.

NASCAR’S most popular driver won the regular-season crown and led the Cup standings most of the year. But he’s had a mediocre playoffs and only won at Talladega — his career-high fifth win of the season.

Still, Elliott is the favorite to win both the race and the title, according to Fanduel Sportsbook.

The top finisher among the four contenders wins the title. Only Elliott and Logano have raced in the championship finale before, with Logan claiming the title in 2018.

Matt York The Associated Press Journeyman driver Ross Chastain is a contender for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, which will be decided Sunday.