Dale Earnhardt Jr. delves into the psyche of Ross Chastain

Over the past few years, Ross Chastain has developed a reputation for being a driver not afraid to push boundaries and stir the pot on the racetrack.

And yet, the Chastain we hear in interviews is hardly the Chastain we see during races. Case in point, this past Sunday’s race at Sonoma, when he made contact with and spun-out Kyle Busch in Turn 4 on the final lap racing for fifth. After the race, Chastain said he really didn’t know what happened between he and Busch.

Speaking on the “Dale Jr. Download,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained how Ross Chastain, though he knows exactly what happened, isn’t looking to be a “media soundbite,” and thus, is measured in his responses to the media.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Ross Chastain: ‘He can take it as well as he dishes it out’

“He can take it as well as he dishes it out,” Earnhardt said. “I don’t know that Ross was anywhere publicly complaining about that. … Ross is a good racecar driver, and he knows exactly what happened. Ross is not really always that eager to be a media soundbite. I’ve had some conversations with Ross about coming into the podcast from time to time. And the vibe that I get from Ross is — Ross and me are friends and I like Ross a lot. And even away from the racetrack I think he’s kind of a fun guy. But the vibe that I get from Ross is he’s fine telling you what’s going on from his terms. He’s not gonna let it be on somebody else’s terms. He wants a little control over it, and he doesn’t wanna be this week’s soundbite.

“He’s not gonna get out of the car and say something that then we’re gonna listen to all week long and all of us are gonna debate and he’s gonna have to weather that storm. He’s really careful and selective about how he shares whatever message he has when he shares it. I kind of like that all that about Ross, I’ll be honest with you. Ross doesn’t rub me the wrong way. I’ll just say it like that. That’s kind of the difference. When I think about all the racecar drivers in the series, it’s like, ‘Do you get under my skin, do you annoy the sh*t out of me, do I think you screw up a lot, can I not stand the sound of your voice.’

“If you’re not doing any of those things, it’s pretty good. Even with everything that Ross seems to get himself into, I’m good with it because it doesn’t annoy me. It doesn’t annoy me with his actions. And it doesn’t annoy me with the way he chooses to handle it afterwards.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees Ross Chastain maturing before his eyes

Despite the reputation, Ross Chastain has been quiet by his own standards this season both on and off the racetrack. Perhaps that can be traced back to last May at Darlington, in which he and Kyle Larson wrecked while battling for the lead. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks had a conversation with Chastain afterwards, saying he “has some things he’s got to clean up.” That conversation followed several previous on-track incidents, including one with Noah Gragson at Kansas which led to a pit road scuffle between the two.

Earnhardt said it’s a sign of maturity in Chastain that he doesn’t appear to feel the need to create “unnecessary attention” to himself unless he has a racecar worthy of competing near the front of the field.

“I think that he knows when he doesn’t have the hand to play, or the racecar to do business with,” Earnhardt said. “Ross isn’t the kind of guy that’s stirring the sh*t up no matter where he is in the field. And so, he’s only going to give you that sort of action that we tend to get from Ross when he has a car capable of doing something with and if his car isn’t what it needs to be, he doesn’t make waves which I think is a good thing. It shows a sign of a bit of maturity. Like he realizes I don’t need to be the story every week. Especially when I’m running 20th and my sh*t sucks.

“I don’t need to be bringing unnecessary attention to myself. And that’s kind of the way I think he deals with it out of the car too. I don’t want to bring unnecessary attention to myself, at least that’s the vibe that I get. I might be wrong about this, but I feel he’s pretty measured about all those things. If he’s running in the top-10, he’s trying to take a spot late in the race, we’re gonna get Ross. And that’s who he is. A lot of the things we see in a driver like that, that’s their personality coming out. That’s that person’s personality and who they are to the core playing out in how they drive the car.”

Chastain, though winless through 16 races, has generally run well. He has tallied six top 10s and sits 10th in the points standings.

The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. delves into the psyche of Ross Chastain appeared first on On3.