Ross Chastain says Rick Hendrick inspired, not neutered him in 2023

November 7, 2026

In some ways, there are some parallels from Carson Hocevar to Ross Chastain, in that their ascension to the Cup Series came with a brash driving style and universal pushback from their peers.

Chastain drew the ire of Denny Hamlin but also Hendrick Motorsports over the course of 2022 and 2023, especially Kyle Larson. At one point, Chase Elliott blocked him all over the race track at Gateway in 2023.

Hamlin admitted to intentionally walling Chastain earlier that year at Phoenix Raceway. But as bad as it got, Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks never suspended him, nor did Chastain ever really match Hocevar in his breach of etiquette and race craft like what happened at Martinsville.

There are a lot of connective tissues between Chastain and Hocevar too. Chastain was a client of the agency Spire owner Jeff Dickerson operated before transitioning to running a Cup Series team.

That agency then became the agency that Chastain now has an ownership stake of, and an agency that has Hocevar as a client. In short, Chastain trusts that Dickerson is doing the right thing by his client and protégé.

“I never got parked in the cup series, so I can’t speak to that but we all want more out of Carson and he’s got a group around him that clearly has made their decisions to do that,” Chastain said on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “And I bet on Jeff Dickerson every time.

“Jeff was a big part of getting me into the (Chip) Ganassi (No.) 42 O’Reilly (Series) car. I mean, heck, I think he was involved but at least one of his guys, David Erickson was the one that was paying me to drive Cary Agajanian’s bus to the track so I could tow my own truck.

“So I (trust) what they see and the decisions they make. They gave Carson his opportunity when Corey (Lajoie substituted in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9) at Gateway. They put Carson in the car and they can take him out.”

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Then Chastain turned the conversation towards his own time on the figurative hot stove. He says those years made him tougher but also more thoughtful. He values the friendships he has forged during those years.

And that includes the conversation that Rick Hendrick had with Chastain that so many of his fans believe neutered him. Chastain had been involved in numerous incidents with Chastain over the course of those two seasons and called him in May of 2023.

Chastain says that phone call has been mischaracterized more often than not.

“I laugh because there was only two people on that phone call,” Chastain said. “The way it went was, it was so inspiring to me because he could have said anything, but the fact that he encouraged me to race and we had a meaningful conversation that honestly — it was in the morning and I remember walking outside and it was right after Darlington and I was like, ‘wow, I can run through a brick wall right now.’

“Rick Hendrick just gave me that kind of a motivating talk to go drive and go race.”

So why hasn’t Chastain won as often in the years since? Well, for one, Trackhouse simply has not been as competitive as it was in the earliest years of the NextGen car.

“It’s unfortunate that we slowed down,” Chastain said. “I mean, I cannot drive a slow car fast. There’s no way else around it. All of my teammates, we’ve slowed down. Back then, Daniel (Suarez) and I were so fast almost every week.

“That was early on in the Gen7 and it’s just so unfortunate that the timing lined up that way because they truly believe, they come up to me and tell me, it’s because I am driving slower or more cautiously.”

Chastain finds that sentiment absurd.

“I don’t know how you think that’s possible in the Cup series,” Chastain said. “I mean, I am driving into the corner, through the center of the corner and off the corner as fast as I can.”

Trackhouse is going through a transition phase this season and Marks is fully focused on his NASCAR program after selling his MotoGP program. Chastain believes a turnaround is coming.

“There’s no guarantees,” Chastain said. “There’s no way to know that it’s going to get great again. There’s no way to know we’ll win again, but if we do, I don’t think I’m talking about ’26. I’ll answer questions about it, but I’m not bringing it up.”

And he has his leader back.

“With Justin Marks, living and breathing Trackhouse NASCAR right now, that’s what we need,” Chastain said. “It’s great to have him. You know, he’s making the decisions now that you’ll see the results next year. And that’s what that’s what we need. We need our leader and we’ve got him. He’s all cylinders go right now.”