Ross Chastain on his NASCAR year "stranger than fiction"

The driver whose roller-coaster ride has captivated NASCAR over the past year on what the mood was like at the Niece Motorsports shop after the Iowa disqualification (2:30); why a $50,000 loss led to a lot of “very bone-jarring words” (4:30); the case for the punishment exceeding the crime (6:00); a plea for NASCAR to “quit listening to everybody” (7:30); trying to encapsulate the “stranger than fiction” nature of the past year for Ross Chastain (9:30); on whether he leans on his experience in overcoming challenges (11:45); the praise from veteran Cup drivers for a driver who hasn’t always made friends on the track (13:45); why it stung even more that he lost the Iowa win to Brett Moffitt, who has a budding rivalry with Chastain (15:30); the decision to switch to running full time in the truck series and Niece’s emergence as championship contender (18:00); what team owner Al Niece is like (20:30); how his Cup (Premium Motorsports) and Xfinity (Kaulig and JD Motorsports) were impacted by his commitment to Niece (23:00); “there was a while there where every race team I drove for was mad at me” (24:30): how the logistics work of racing in so many series (sometimes in separate states on consecutive days) (26:30); the saving grace of charter flights (29:00); the advantages to racing as much as possible (30:30); how often he retreats to the solace of his family’s watermelon farm (32:30); the support of the watermelon industry in Chastain’s career (34:30); “I am falling behind in a lot of aspects of people my age who go into the industry” (36:00); a funny story about Elliott Sadler and getting his first victory (37:30); where Chastain feels like his career stands six months after the stunning loss of his Xfinity ride at Ganassi (38:00). Visit www.nbcsports.com/nascar and www.nbcsports.com/motors for more NASCAR and motorsports coverage from NBC Sports. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.