Rothshastain recorded his first victory in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, giving his final charge from 40th on the Coca-Cola 600 grid.
But the fact that Chastain could even line up at Charlotte’s first line was nothing but a miracle. Just a day ago, the 32-year-old actually blew away the tires, destroying the wall between turns 3 and 4, destroying the #1 Chevrolet.
It was a big set-off for Chastain, who was one of the fastest drivers in the long run.
“It was quite deflated,” said crew chief Phil Sujen. “We finally show up at a certain speed and then loaded with shipwrecked cars.”
The initial hope was to repair the damaged primary, but as the parts were removed it became clear. The rear frame was bent beyond repair. By the time the team called to switch to a backup car, precious time had already been lost.
“We thought we needed to fix the primary for about an hour and a half,” Chastain said. “It would have been fine. Then Nasker said, “No, it’s bent, it’s too much, so build something else, and we did.”
Work continued early on Sunday, with the mechanism having little time to rest before returning to the garage.
“There were 30 people in the store at 8:30pm,” recalls Surgen. “The guys from the shop who left road crews, engine support, concerts and baseball games. They showed up dropping everything.”
“As the night went up and various stages of the process evolved, we sent some of those people home. The last ones, maybe 8 or 10 left, were left at 2:30 last night. The first guys were back at 5:30.
“So I got back to sleep for a few hours this morning and then back to it. We even worked the wires until we had to reconsider this 2pm today.”
Chastain denies Byron’s victory
There was no guarantee that the newly built car would run well, but Chastain quickly speeded up in the race and sliced the field to enter the winning competition.
Hendrick Motorsport’s William Byron was on the lead with a comfortable finishing stage, but Chastain pulled out a great move outside Turn 2 on six laps to run to take control of the race.
He eventually took the checkered flag and registered his sixth career victory in the Cup Series.
“It’s sinking in that we’ve won 600 worldwide,” he said. “We won the Cola 600, and what does that mean for the team, me and everything else?
“I saw us crash yesterday. You heard me tell them about how they had gone up until 2:30. They rebuild the car and we put ourselves in – we just worked slowly in our way.
“It took all 600 miles. (If so) in a 400-mile race here, we didn’t get there (in the victory lane). We’re not competing.
“It took me a lot of time. I still don’t know what it means. But I’m excited to find out.”
Chastain’s race race pass left Byron Brike as Hendrick’s driver missed the victory despite leading 283 out of 400 laps. However, teammate Kyle Larson crashed, leading Byron to the Charlotte championship.
