Ross Chastain Struggles to Keep Up with Shane Van Gisbergen at Trackhouse

Ross Chastain has been the face of Trackhouse since its inception in 2022, carrying the number one on his Chevrolet Camaro. However, recent oval results have seen him struggle to keep up with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.

What happened?

Van Gisbergen has been the driver to beat on road courses, but his recent oval performances have been impressive. He has two top-five finishes this season, while Chastain has just one. They are level on oval top 10 finishes with four apiece. The title-defining difference is Van Gisbergen's two wins on road courses.

Why it matters for Ross Chastain

Chastain, who has eight full-time Cup Series campaigns under his belt, is below the cut-off in 21st place. He needs to improve his performance to secure a spot in the Chase berth. Van Gisbergen, on the other hand, is firming for a Chase berth, sitting 14th with five races remaining in the regular season.

What comes next?

Speaking on his Happy Hour podcast, Kevin Harvick hailed Van Gisbergen's constant oval improvement. "SVG is the lead dog at Trackhouse and every time he gets better on these ovals it just becomes more and more apparent," said Harvick. Van Gisbergen led 49 laps at North Wilkesboro, setting a new personal-best on ovals. His previous high was 12 laps led at Nashville, where he also finished fifth.

Van Gisbergen's performance has left Chastain struggling to keep up. "I think that Shane just keeps getting better and better and better," said Harvick. "Right now, that #97 is the lead dog at Trackhouse." Trackhouse Racing boss Justin Marks is also optimistic about Van Gisbergen's chances. "It really is the highlight in a period of time for our company where there's just frankly not a lot of highlights at the moment," Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Marks believes that Van Gisbergen's performance is a major boost in the team's quest to continue its streak of Chase berths. "We are trying to keep our streak alive of making the playoffs with at least one of our cars every single year," Marks said. "We're not in the win-and-you're-in era anymore, so it's tough on a guy like this to make the playoffs.