Tempers Flare Between Gragson and Chastain at Kansas

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

Noah Gragson has had enough.

After he and Ross Chastain had a run-in in the late stages of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series rookie was bound and determined to give Chastain a piece of his mind.

Gragson, who finished the day in 29^th place, climbed from his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet and made a bee-line down to Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet further up the grid and the tensions just ratcheted up from that point.

After a verbal tongue lashing, Gragson grabbed ahold of Chastain’s driver’s suit, to which Chastain responded with a punch. Gragson attempted to throw a return punch, but NASCAR officials were on the scene almost immediately to break up the fight.

While Gragson stormed off back down pit road, Chastain was no worse for wear, sporting a grin on his face afterwards. Just another member to add to the ever-growing roster of the Ross Chastain Fan Club.

“I got tight off of [Turn] 4 for sure,” Chastain explained. “Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the racetrack, and we train together, we prepare together, we know each other’s — every little bit about each other.

“Yeah, definitely crowded him up off of 4, and he took a swipe at us in 3, and then he came down and grabbed a hold of me, and a very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse.”

For his side of the story, Gragson noted that the problems between he and Chastain stretch back to before their Kansas contact, but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

If no one else was going to stand up to Chastain, he took it upon himself to do so.

“Just got fenced by the 1. He took care of us at Talladega. We’re Chevrolet teammates and he didn’t work with us there. Then he fenced us here. I’m just over it,” Gragson said.

“Nobody else has the balls to at least confront him. You know, at least just grab him or do something or he’s just going to keep doing it. I’m over it. That’s the second time. I have respect for Justin Marks and the rest of the Trackhouse team and that’s why I’m not wrecking him on the race track.

“I was ready to fight him. I didn’t even get a shot in because the security guards got in the middle of it. You know, nobody confronts the guy and he just keeps doing it. I’m sick and tired of it.”