Ross Chastain’s 20th-place finish Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway — in addition to his Racing Insights metric rankings from the race — weren’t illustrious. However, one strategy the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing driver played during Sunday certainly proved to be monumental in how the race finished.
How so? Well, let’s dig into it … and see how the Racing Insights data helps paint the picture.
RELATED: Talladega results | NASCAR Insights analysis explained
During the final stage of the Jack Link’s 500, a Toyota cavalcade — including Denny Hamlin, Riley Herbst, Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace — utilized the outside lane during green-flag stops. With dominant speed as the laps waned, it looked as if the Toyota train would speed away, leaving everyone else in the metaphorical (and perhaps literal) dust.
Not if one driver had anything to say about it. Chastain, ahead of the Toyota group but with much slower speed, maneuvered his No. 1 Chevy in front of the Toyota group, led by Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing machine. As a result, Hamlin — in addition to the Toyotas behind him — checked up, eliminating the speed advantage.
Unfortunately for Hamlin and the bulk of the Toyotas, the speed could not be revived, with Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford eventually taking the Talladega victory. In fact, only one Toyota finished the race inside the top 10 (Wallace, eighth). Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe were the next best finishers at 14th and 15th, respectively. Among other Toyota finishes included Ty Gibbs (17th), Jones (18th), Hamlin (21st), and Herbst (22nd).
The block didn’t result in a marquee result for Chastain, and the No. 1’s Racing Insights data didn’t pop off the page, either; Chastain finished the race ranked 21st in Passer Rating, 20th in Defense Rating and 15th in Restart Rating.
MORE: Cup Series standings
But that blocking maneuver did hold off the Toyotas, and if Racing Insights’ data is any indicator, such a move might’ve been the X factor that prevented the manufacturer from finding Victory Lane. The key metric is the Restart Rating. Four of six drivers with the best Restart Rating were Toyotas: Reddick (first), Herbst (second), Gibbs (fourth) and Hamlin (sixth).
Toyota’s bread and butter came on the restarts at Talladega, and if not for Chastain’s block, the manufacturer very well could’ve capitalized on this strength as the race reached its conclusion.
Other notables from Sunday:
— Despite having a 24th-ranked Passer Rating, Kyle Larson finished runner-up, thanks in part to a fourth-ranked Defense Rating and seventh-ranked Restart Rating.
— William Byron, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, finished third, despite possessing Passer, Defense and Restart ratings all 12th or worse.
— Noah Gragson collected his first top five of the season (fourth) despite having the 11th-worst Restart Rating.
— Hocevar finished sixth; his 22nd-ranked Restart Rating was his highest-ranked rating of the day.
Read the full article here
