Punches Thrown as Ross Chastain, Noah Gragson Fight at Kansas NASCAR Race
Ross Chastain has had a reputation for being too agressive inside the car, and too apologetic outside of it. That changed today when he took a swing at Noah Gragson, who approached him on pit road after the race. The two had contact earlier in the race, and there was a clear disagreement about which driver was at fault. Gragson grabbed Chastain and began shoving him, before Chastain retaliated with a punch to the head.
The two were quickly separated by NASCAR officials, but Chastain connected with the first punch. The Trackhouse Racing driver has been having issues with a number of drivers on the track over the past two seasons and his apologies carry no value anymore. After wrecking Brennan Poole last weekend, Poole stated that maybe Chastain "needs his butt whooped" and Gragson was ready to do the job this afternoon.
"Noah and I share a very similar attitude on the race track," Chastain said. "We train together, we prepare together, we know every little bit about each other. I definitely crowded him in 4 then he took a swipe at us in 3 and came down and grabbed ahold of me. A very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse."
"Just got fenced by the 1," Gragson said. "He took care of us at Talladega, Chevrolet teammate and didn't work with us there, and I'm just over it. No one else seems to have the balls to confront him so if you don't at least grab him and do something, he's going to keep doing it. It's the second time and I'm over it. I have respect for Justin Marks and the rest of the Trackhouse team but I'm ready to fight him. I didn't even get a shot in because the security guards got in the middle of it. No one confronts the guy and I'm sick and tired of it."
Chastain finished 5th today while Gragson spun a few laps after his contact and finished 29th in the race. This season has been a struggle for both drivers, as Chastain remains winless and keeps getting into these types of incidents. Gragson is in the midst of his rookie season with the small, re-organized Legacy Motor Club team.
