What happens when two of NASCAR’s most divisive drivers compete on a road course? It deserves a lot of attention. Ross Chastain spun out Kyle Busch on the final lap of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Racing for a Top 5 After what seemed like a forever, Busch was Chastain’d out of Turn 4A, continuing his winless streak to 37 weeks. After a spectacular Wine Country crazy ride, the Melon Man took the much-needed fifth place, while Rowdy missed the top ten by only two spaces. Samantha Busch, frustrated with her husband’s poor performance, resorted to Twitter to criticize Chastain.
Surprisingly, despite his own frustrations at Sonoma, Denny Hamlin joined the chorus heard across the Busch family. Denny appears to be backing with his former JGR teammates’ concerns about Ross Chastain’s resurgence in this particular case.
Denny Hamlin reacts to Ross Chastain’s bump-and-run on Kyle Busch.
Most believe that the Melon Man knocked Kyle Busch out of the top five spots. In a post-race interview with FOX, the man stated, “I’m not sure what happened with the 8, either…” The situation isn’t that straightforward. Chastain, trailing the #8 RCR Chevy, made a tremendous push behind Busch’s car on Turn 4A of the repaved racetrack, aiming to overtake in the corner. But, as PRN later stated on social media, “Ross Chastain says he locked up the tires and hit Kyle Busch” on that same pass.
This irritated Samantha Busch a lot. Because of her husband’s recent poor fortunes and the ongoing scrutiny, Samantha came to Kyle’s defence with a sarcastic tweet directed at Chastin that stated, “Locked up my tires” aka over drove the corner.” On the contrary, Rowdy was seen limping across the finish line, fueled by fumes.
Denny Hamlin questioned it best on the post-race release of his podcast, telling co-host Jared Allen, “I knew a top five was on the line, and honestly, other than driver ego, which we obviously have, what’s the difference between fifth and sixth? It’s one point, but I knew the #1 would go for it. Now, I’m not sure, and neither are we, because he collided with Kyle from far behind in turn four. Was Kyle running out of gas?
After being forced to retire on Lap 3 due to a blown engine, it is reasonable to say that the #11 driver had a lot more steady perspective than those viewing the action on their separate screens. However, he clarified his thought process further, giving Ross the benefit of the doubt, stating, “Because he was two car lengths behind entering turn four.” There is no rhyme or reason why you should be so close to someone in the middle of round four. Simply believe me on this. “I drive, race, and understand.”
In conclusion, Denny agreed with the first lady of the Busch household, albeit with some confusion about the follow-up: “You might close it to one car length if you really drive it in.” “There’s no rhyme or reason he (Chastain) should have been beside the eight unless he completely missed the corner like a mile, which is a possibility, or the #8 had stumbling issues…”
Denny would repeat himself one more time, clearly stating, “Listen, the #1 blew the corner, no matter how you look at it. He was not going to. I mean, he drove up far beyond the rumbles, there’s no denying it. It’s only a question of whether Kyle helped his own chances by sprinting out in that place.
Kyle, on the other hand, was ‘frustrated’ because he did not get the finish he “deserved.” However, some would argue that translating a P29 starting position into a P12 finish is more than adequate, given Richard Childress Racing’s disastrous 2024 season overall. Nonetheless, they were hardly the only previous champs battling in Sonoma. Denny Hamlin’s squad, Joe Gibs Racing, experienced identical issues to RCR on that particular day.
Denny’s #11 Camry XSE was simply the first casualty at Sonoma. Following this incident, Ty Gibbs, his youthful teammate, had another incident around Turn 1 when the #54 Toyota came free and collided with the wall around Lap 16. Even #20 driver Christopher Bell became involved in a mid-race pileup that included SHR’s Josh Berry and around half a dozen more vehicles. Bell would, however, rebound and complete the race in P10, the highest-finishing JGR vehicle heading out of the Sonoma road race weekend. That honour would have gone to Martin Truex Jr., if his #19 hadn’t ran out of gas on the penultimate lap, trailing eventual winner Kyle Larson.
Similarly, all three of Richard Childress’ Chevys suffered failure at Sonoma. It all started in qualifying for Will Brown, a full-time Supercars road-course ringer who had an ECU problem with his part-time #33 vehicle. Although Brown appeared to rebound in the early stages, his car experienced electrical troubles throughout, limiting his performance to a meagre P31 finish. Austin Dillon, his full-time RCR teammate, started the race a little better in P16. However, the same collision that failed to claim Christopher Bell resulted in Dillon’s #3 Camaro ZL1 concluding the day with a heartbreaking DNF at P36, beating off Hamlin and Ty Gibbs for ‘track position.’
Ross Chastain may have finished one spot higher than he would have if Chase Elliott hadn’t made another bump-and-run. Finally, repaved Sonoma proved to be a true wild card, particularly for teams like Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress Racing. Will the Iowa Speedway smash the charts with its Cup Series debut? Next week’s Iowa Corn 300 will provide the answer.
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