Ross Chastain’s aggressiveness on the racetrack has irked a few of his fellow drivers, and all of it got here to a head on Sunday when Noah Gragson confronted him after the race in Kansas.
Chastain ended up clocking Gragson with a punch earlier than NASCAR officers may separate the 2 drivers. Gragson stated afterward he was “sick and drained” of Chastain’s aggressiveness. Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Brennan Poole have additionally had run-ins with Chastain over the course of the 2023 season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided a unique tackle the state of affairs. He stated within the latest episode of the “Dale Jr. Obtain” podcast that Chastain does plenty of issues just like what his father did. Dale Earnhardt, often known as “The Intimidator” throughout his days on the observe, rubbed plenty of drivers the incorrect method and backed up his personal aggressiveness with victories.
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Though Dale Earnhardt gained just one NASCAR Cup race throughout the season, he actually didn’t care if he gained simply the one occasion, as a result of it was the large one he had been making an attempt to win his complete profession, the Daytona 500 on the Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seashore, Florida. (ISC Photographs & Archives by way of Getty Photographs)
“Dad was on the market doing actual related issues on the racetrack,” Earnhardt Jr. stated. “He flat out dumped folks and would get out. He wouldn’t actually apologize for it as a lot as Ross does, however he would get out and say, ‘Hey man, I don’t know what you’re speaking about. That wasn’t soiled driving. I acquired into him. My mistake.’”
Earnhardt added that he sees a advertising and marketing alternative for NASCAR, Trackhouse Racing and Chastain.
“Individuals round Dale Earnhardt round ’86, ’87, up into the ’90s, these folks round him, they capitalized on his on-track actions. They created a persona, by way of advertising and marketing, by way of souvenirs, that went nationwide, if not world,” he stated.
“’The Intimidator,’ the ‘Man in Black,’ you understand the place you noticed these for the primary time? On a hat. On a T-shirt. Dale Earnhardt didn’t stroll into the racetrack and say ‘Hey, from right here on out, I’m the Man in Black.’ ‘From right here on out, I’m the Intimidator.’
NASCAR commentator and NASCAR Corridor of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks to the media throughout the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 3, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Sean Gardner/Getty Photographs)
“That was a advertising and marketing marketing campaign. That was a T-shirt, that was a hat, that took off. It grew to become a persona.”
ROSS CHASTAIN PUNCHES NOAH GRAGSON ON PIT ROAD AS NASCAR RIVALRY BOILS OVER
He added in a separate tweet Tuesday that he was not saying Chastain is the brand new “Intimidator,” however he provided there’s a advertising and marketing alternative there.
“All these folks tellin’ ME who Dale Earnhardt was … I’m not saying Ross is the brand new Sr. I’m solely saying Nascar/Trackhouse has an opportunity to capitalize on the eye. In an analogous method Nascar and memento companies did with dad (and others) within the late 80s early 90.”
The 30-year-old Florida native has two wins within the NASCAR Cup Sequence since he made his debut in 2017.
Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 AdventHealth Chevrolet, walks onstage throughout driver intros previous to the NASCAR Cup Sequence Creation Well being 400 at Kansas Speedway on Might 7, 2023 in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Photographs)
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The circuit heads to Darlington, South Carolina, on Sunday.
