"Oh no, don't talk to me!" Well, that's definitely one way to kick off an interview.
When Clint Bowyer checked in with Ross Chastain during last Sunday's Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway, the Trackhouse Racing driver was clearly in the zone. While the former watermelon farmer from Florida wasn't really in the mood to chat, he humored Bowyer and the NASCAR on Fox crew for a quick mid-race status check. It made for a pretty hilarious 50 seconds or so of TV, which you can check out in the below clip. Let's just say that if you thought Ross' intro was good, you'll want to stick around for his little dig at Clint at the end.
? @RossChastain and @ClintBowyer. Classic. pic.twitter.com/3XLvlDcso4
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 26, 2023
Despite Bowyer's parting sign-off ("You get this baby won!"), Chastain wasn't able to secure the win at the Fontana, California racetrack, ultimately placing third behind Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Still, the 30-year-old Chastain is sitting in first in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, with a one-point lead over defending Cup champ Joey Logano. Even after coming off a dominant 2022 season, where he ultimately finished second in the standings, Chastain is well aware that he's breaking new ground in his career with his current top position.
"Well, I'm certainly not used to it," Chastain said, according to Jayski's Silly Season Site. "It feels good to me, but I think it also tells the story of a bigger picture with Trackhouse being fairly young and all the people there working together to help us get to this point."
"I certainly didn't get here on my own. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and it's showing. I don't want to get ahead of myself though. This is a long season, and there are so many variables, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing, and we'll see how the season shakes out."
With his ninth-place finish at Daytona and third-place finish at Auto Club, along with three stage wins (he won the second stage at Daytona and the first two at Auto Club), Chastain currently has 92 points in the Cup standings. He'll seek to capitalize on his positive momentum when he heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track where he placed third last March and finished runner-up in the October playoff race. He comes into the race as a 8-1 favorite behind 2021 champion Kyle Larson (7-1) and hometown hero Kyle Busch (5-1).
Will Ross end up smashing a watermelon for the first time this season in Sin City? We'll have to tune in this Sunday to find out.
