Editor’s note: This is the 21st in a series in which we review the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in reverse order of the 2025 final standings.
Driver: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Crew chief: Phil Surgen
Final 2025 ranking: 10th
Key stats: 1 win, 4 top fives, 12 top 10s, 83 laps led
How 2025 ended: After missing the Cup Series Playoffs last year, Ross Chastain powered his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet back into the postseason following his win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Memorial Day Weekend, which turned out to be his only victory of the 2025 season. The native of Alva, Florida, made it to the Round of 12 before getting eliminated from the playoffs after the chaotic final lap of the Charlotte Roval cutoff race. Chastain made contact with Denny Hamlin in the frontstretch chicane at the Roval to get a spot he needed to keep his title hopes alive, but he ended up spinning them both out and ultimately watched his playoff run conclude on the Charlotte frontstretch in reverse across the start/finish line. Still, at the end of the year, Chastain was the top Trackhouse driver in the final standings in 10th, ahead of teammates Shane van Gisbergen (12th) and Daniel Suárez (29th).
Best race: On Lap 395 of the Coca-Cola 600, Chastain made a move to the inside on William Byron in Turns 1 and 2 to take the lead, as his No. 1 Chevrolet led the final six laps at Charlotte to score his sixth career Cup Series victory and first crown-jewel win. The path to Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile North Carolina intermediate track was not an easy one because Chastain was in a backup car after crashing in the Saturday practice session, due to a left-rear tire going down, which caused his car to spin in Turn 3 and hit the wall. As a result, Trackhouse team members worked into the early hours of Sunday morning at the shop to ensure that Chastain’s car was ready to go racing for 600 miles deep into Sunday night. Chastain went on to make history by becoming the first driver to win from an official starting position of last place (40th) since the late Hall of Famer Bobby Allison in 1969 at Richmond Fairgrounds, per NASCAR Insights.
RELATED: 2026 Cup Series schedule | Ross Chastain driver page | Watch NASCAR highlights
Other season highlights: Chastain persevered to the runner-up position at Texas, despite being critical of his No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet’s lack of speed in qualifying after starting 31st. He also got into a feud with Joey Logano on numerous occasions at Martinsville, Chicago and Dover before both drivers decided to bury the hatchet and move on from their on-track disagreements.
Stat to know: For the first time since the start of his Trackhouse tenure in 2022, Chastain led fewer than 100 laps. The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet led 83 laps in nine of 36 races.
Quotable: “It is just conversations. And I’m not gonna let one bad instance get in the way of a lot of good times. One bad time is not gonna affect that for me, and Daniel and I’s relationship will survive. I wrecked him, I mean, he should be upset, that team should be upset. So I went to the crew chief and him, and wanted them to make sure they knew that they knew. I wanted to make sure that, like, it was the last thing I wanted to do. And for the first half of the brake zone, I thought I was fine. And then the second half of the brake zone, I realized I’m going too fast, and I should have reacted better, and I didn’t. So that’s just a non-negotiable to wrecking, spinning teammates out. We had conversations this week.” — Chastain expresses regret for spinning Trackhouse teammate Suárez at Sonoma.
Looking ahead: Chastain will return to No. 1 Chevrolet in 2026, but crew chief Surgen is moving on to a different role within the organization. On Nov. 7, Trackhouse named Brandon McSwain the new crew chief for Chastain. McSwain comes over from Hendrick Motorsports after working as a race engineer on Byron’s No. 24 team. With a new voice atop the box in McSwain, this organizational change could be the spark Chastain needs to get back toward the front of the field more consistently and lead laps.