"I can't let that go down without a fight" - Ross Chastain calls COTA win 'insane'

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series crowned its sixth winner. Ross Chastain, driver of the Camaro ZL1 No. 1 for Trackhouse Racing, carried the checkered flag home.

Chastain bagged his first career Cup Series win. The EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was NASCAR’s first road course race of the season and the second race at COTA since its inaugural in 2021.

Winning the race, the No. 1 driver made NASCAR history as the second driver to win a road course race at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas.

Ross Chastain has Trackhouse Racing on the board, adding them to the list of 2022 Cup Series winners, joining the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Team Penske.

FOX went ahead on Twitter to congratulate Ross Chastain on the win.

The "Melon Man" celebrated his win in a fun way. He climbed to the top of his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 No. 1 with a huge Watermelon and lifted it twice before dropping it to the ground.

In a post-race interaction with the media, Ross Chastain described his win at COTA as “insane”. He went on to describe how the last lap went and stated:

“ To go up against some of the best with AJ (Allmendinger) – I mean, I know he is going to be upset with me; but we raced hard, both of us, and he owes me one. But when it comes to a Cup win, man, I can’t let that go down without a fight.”

Chastain showed off another level of aggressiveness. In the last laps Chastain was not the leader, but managed to battle his way to the win. Chastain and Allmendinger started in second and third place respectively, with Tyler Reddick leading.

Ross Chastain bumped Allmendinger during the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix

Chastain took the lead, with Allmendinger following him in second place and Alex Bowman in third place. Chastain then lost the lead to Allmendinger, driving the No. 16, and Bowman was also fighting hard to take the lead.

As they approached the checkered ground, the No. 16 driver was leading with Bowman’s No. 48 on his right side and Chastain behind him. The battle got tougher for Chastain, who ended up shoving Allmendinger, sending him into No. 48 before he was left spinning out at the center of the tracks.

On Twitter, Bob Pockrass updated how Chastain bumped into Allmendinger.

The move was a bold one and Allmendinger wasn’t impressed with it, but at the end of the day, history always remembers the winner.