In a day of exhilaration and bitter disappointment for Trackhouse Racing, Shane van Gisbergen won his fifth consecutive road or street course race, and teammate Ross Chastain was eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs on the last lap at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
With a 21st-place finish, Chastain finished four points behind defending series champion Joey Logano, who finished 20th after a daring pit call with 11 laps remaining.
Chastain was in the third round of the playoffs by a point over Logano entering Lap 109 but lost a spot to Denny Hamlin and then spun in the final corner while trying to regain the position. He had trailed Logano by 13 points heading into the Round of 12 finale.
“Justin (Marks) hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and to be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day,” Chastain said. “We definitely had the speed on the last lap, yeah, and missed turn 7, and I slid the rear tires and let (Hamlin) by. Just completely unacceptable. Knowing that no one else had a hand in it but me.
Desperation for Chastain on final lap at the Roval
With a spot in the Round of 8 on the line, Ross Chastain gave Denny Hamlin all he had coming to the line but ultimately ends up crossing the finish backwards on the outside looking in.
“So I can go to bed knowing that they’re building me to be the best I can be, but I’ve got to make those right decisions in those moments where I’m not on autopilot. It’s terrible to get to this level and not perform. When you watch and you learn and you study for half your life to get here and to fail is a terrible feeling right now, and I will wake up tomorrow and go right back to work.”
Joining Logano in advancing to the Round of 8 are Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Larson, Bell, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott. The third round, which will determine the Championship 4 field, will begin Sunday, Oct. 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Chastain had overcome a massive blunder after his stop under the Stage 1 caution, missing the left turn exiting the pits. He lost 15 spots while stopping his No. 1 Chevrolet and backing up to blend into traffic. The mistake blunted a strong start by Chastain, who finished fifth in Stage 1 and put pressure on Logano.
The Trackhouse Racing driver won his fifth consecutive Cup race on a road or street course.
“I thought I had more room and just was trying to get to the yellow line and just completely started the downfall there,” Chastain said of his mistake in the pits. “Then I came off out of the pit stall and double-clicked up into third (gear). Just unforced errors. Just terrible. So it’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse.”
For the second consecutive season, Logano narrowly averted being eliminated at the Round of 12. But unlike last year (when he was put back in third round after Alex Bowman was disqualified), the three-time Cup Series champion earned it on the track on a gutsy pit call by crew chief Paul Wolfe, who called Logano to the pits on Lap 98.
Logano went two points above the cutline to four spots below the cutline on the pit stop, but he was able to gain four spots on fresh tires while Chastain began slipping on older tires.
The three-time Cup champion’s bid to defend his title remains alive.
“Everyone was telling me how close it was going to be there, and gosh, we’re still alive, baby,” Logano said. “We’re still going. I’m so excited. Such a close finish there.
“It’s the drama of the playoffs. If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there to come down to, like I said, a tie there basically at the end before the wreck. Proud of Paul Wolfe. Made some really hard calls today. Three stop in the end there, kind of an audible there at the end. Just our fall-off was a little too much. So making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us there in the game. A championship performance from the team. Wish I was a little faster, but overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team. We still got a shot.”
Bidding for his second consecutive victory at the Roval, Kyle Larson finished second, 15.160 seconds behind van Gisbergen. Christopher Bell was third, followed by Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell.
Recapping late battles at the Roval playoff race
Marty Snider, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Burton recap a thrilling playoff race at the Charlotte Roval and intense battles that defined its final laps before analyzing the Round of 8 field after Sunday’s elimination race.
With victories at the Roval, Watkins Glen International, the Chicago Street Race, Sonoma and Mexico City, van Gisbergen is one win from tying Jeff Gordon’s record of six consecutive road or street course wins (which was set in 1997-2000).
“What an awesome race,” van Gisbergen said. “Kyle and Christopher driving really good and got a little rough, but man, the battle was awesome. With the Chevy, I lost it a little bit at the start of stage three, and whatever they did for the rest of the race, unbelievable. Really enjoyed that, and that was a long time waiting hoping the yellow wasn’t going to come out. I gave (Larson) a little bump at (Turn) 7, and he slammed me, and that sort of set it off, but I’m all for it. It was fun. I hope he’s not too pissed off, but hope it was good to watch too.”
The New Zealand native, who already holds the record for most Cup wins by a foreign-born driver, will have his next shot at history in the March 1, 2026 race at Circuit of the Americas.
Also eliminated from the playoffs after the Round of 12 were pole-sitter Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric, who finished last after suffering damage when Carson Hocevar locked up his brakes in the frontstretch chicane and ran into the right rear of the No. 2 Ford on Lap 33.
Cindric already was struggling after missing the chicane on Lap 10 and spinning off course in a collision with Justin Haley.
Stage 1 winner: van Gisbergen
Stage 2 winner: Blaney
Next: Sunday, Oct. 12, 5:30 p.m. ET at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on USA
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