Ross Chastain says “patience paid off” in historic Coca-Cola 600 win

On Memorial Day Weekend, Ross Chastain won NASCAR’s longest race in unprecedented fashion, coming from 40th (last) on the grid in a backup car to take the lead 591 miles into the 600-mile event. Of his six victories in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2022, none are more prestigious than this crown jewel win.

“Patience paid off,” said Chastain as he reflected on the impressive drive in a Saturday media availability. “There were times where I almost got in the wall, but I lifted. There were times where I almost got to someone’s outside or almost cleared them off the corner and lifted. In a 600-mile race, that allows you to do that. These races are a lot shorter this weekend, though.”

Still wearing the victory ring

Chastain celebrated throughout the night with his team and even six days later, he’s still wearing the ring awarded to the victor of the Coca-Cola 600. He finally took it off, but only because he had to get behind the wheel of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet as he plans to take part in the NASCAR Xfinity Series action on Saturday.

“It says ‘Champion’ and it says ‘Coca-Cola 600 2025’,” said Chastain about the ring. “It had the SMI logo right front and center. That car and that red and blue logo for SMI is so iconic, something that I remember as a kid seeing and I didn’t know what it was. And now to have it front and center on the ring of what SMI and the Smith family have built the Coca-Cola 600 into is incredible.

“So yeah, definitely going to take it off now for practice. But it has been motivation this week because this week was a grind. And sometimes I just had to touch the ring and be like — okay, smile, go to the next thing, make the next flight, get home, like all the stuff … the ring is a very special part of it, as well as the trophy, which I can’t even pick the dang thing up … it’s too heavy.”

Fighting back from Saturday setbacks

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images

One thing the Trackouse team has been missing this year has been off-loading with speed for Saturday practice and qualifying. Chastain was vocal about it following a runner-up finish at Texas and while he was the fastest driver over the course of a long run during Coke 600 practice, he ironically ended that day with his worst starting position of the year. A cut tire sent the car into the wall, forcing him to skip qualifying while the team worked overnight to prepare the backup car. But still, it was a step in the right direction as they came out of the gate with impressive speed for once.

“We were right there with the No. 24 [William Byron] for the fast lap in our (practice) group,” said Chastain about last weekend.

“It just comes down to lap time. The sport rewards speed and how fast can you start and finish the lap from the starting point and getting it done. It’s a real simple reward system. You go fast, you get a lot of cool things. And the lap time came with the balance of the car last week. So for that practice at Charlotte in the Cup car, the balance stayed good.

“I asked my team to just build the (backup) car the same because I didn’t need any changes. Usually you want to migrate the balance a little. You want to tighten up just a little bit on corner entry, a little bit on exit. But I was just like just build it the same, and we will be really good. And we’ll adjust in the race, but I didn’t have any — that’s probably the first time, definitely in my Cup career, that I’ve ever gotten out of a practice session and didn’t ask for anything. And that’s why I was so full of a smile all Saturday as they were building the next car. I knew if they could replicate that, we’d have a real shot. So the lap time comes with the balance.”

Chastain will try to go back-to-back this weekend at Nashville, a race he won during the 2023 NASCAR Cup season. He’s looking strong on Saturday once again, qualifying fifth for the Cup race.

Photos from Nashville – Practice & Qualifying