Kyle Petty has opened up about his feelings about Ross Chastain's actions on the racetrack during The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.
After the cars took the checkered flag, Chastain decided to take a swipe at Tyler Reddick's car and put him in the wall. Reddick made contact with Chastain in the closing laps and Chastain clearly had enough of it and took his anger out during the cool down lap.
A look at the contact between Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick. #NASCAR
? : @NASCAR pic.twitter.com/wDk1fWTbam
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 4, 2024
It is no secret that Chastain has a reputation for being one of, if not the most, aggressive driver in the sport. He has had his run-ins with drivers like Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and more. This was a side of Chastain that disappeared after his incident with Larson at Darlington Raceway in May last year. Chastain received criticism from Rick Hendrick and it seemed like Chastain fell off the radar after that.
This incident with Reddick may be a sign that the "old" Chastain is back, but this incident doesn't sit well with Petty.
"These two guys get into each other on the last lap of the race, and when the checkered flag falls and the yellow lights are on, we see a little retaliation from Ross Chastain. Have we seen that before? Yes we have, yes we have," Petty said. "That was uncalled for. Because again, this means nothing. Just money in the bank and a trophy, and you just lost out on both, so go on to the next place."
Chastain does have a new sponsor this year, Busch Light. There may be a case where the sponsor wants Chastain to go back to his aggressive ways. It sponsored Kevin Harvick for eight years. Harvick was known to be an aggressive driver who would not let his competitors run over him. This might be the type of racer the Busch brand wants. If that is the case, we may be in for another exciting year of Chastain behind the wheel.
Kyle Petty is one of the people in the media that isn't afraid to speak their mind on topics within NASCAR. It will be interesting to see if Chastain gets into more incidents this year, if Petty will feel differently about them.
The first points race of the season that will feature Chastain and Reddick will be the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
