Chastain wrecks in last-lap pass attempt
DAYTONA BEACH — Ross Chastain thought a split second of overaggressiveness cost him a chance to win the Daytona 500 ahead of the final lap.
Chastain darted through an emerging gap in the middle of the track, seemingly with enough speed to catch William Byron on the inside. Instead, he went sliding through the infield grass just before reaching the start-finish line, allowing Byron to take the white flag before the caution came out.
Once cleared from the infield care center, and after he lamented the moment with reporters, Chastain turned and had a short chat with Austin Cindric, with whom he collided. Cindric absolved the Alva native of error, saying he was instead clipped from behind by Corey LaJoie.
“Forget what I said,” Chastain declared. “I haven't seen a replay!”
Regardless, Chastain could not hold onto the lead following a Lap 196 restart. He survived the “Big One” four laps earlier, pulling away from danger before a chain-reaction pileup eliminated several of the favorites, including Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.
Byron quickly made his pass and fended off Chastain's advances before the last crash — securing Hendrick Motorsports' first Daytona 500 triumph in a decade, on the 40th anniversary of the team's first Cup Series race. In so doing, it denied Trackhouse Racing a landmark victory in the Great American Race.
“I really do feel content. It's weird to say it, but we did everything right,” Chastain said.
“I'm happy for William, and Chevy, and General Motors to win. It was really awesome for us to control some of those green-flag pit cycles and really kick their butts. … To have all those Chevys there at the end made me feel good.”
Chastain, who has three prior top-10s in the Daytona 500, believes he could have allowed things to unfold a bit more before making his move.
“I was just too aggressive with my turn left,” he added. “I should have just waited a little bit longer, obviously. I'm here standing here talking (to reporters) instead of out there (in Victory Lane).”
Chastain led 14 laps of a relatively, and unusually, clean race — with just three crashes spread across the 500 miles. He picked up 24 points, aided by a third-place showing at the end of Stage 1, but ultimately finished exactly where he started in 21st position.
“I took the gap, and I don't apologize for that,” Chastain said. “I can go to sleep tonight knowing that I took the white flag, looking to make the move to win the Daytona 500.”