One week after spinning Chase Elliott on Lap 1 at Circuit of the Americas, Ross Chastain has addressed his aggressive move. He called it a big error.
Chastain, who declined comment after last weekend's Cup Series race, faced questions Saturday morning at Phoenix Raceway. He explained that he chose to avoid discussing the incident until he had watched the replay and that he was in the wrong.
"It was an error," Chastain said during Saturday's bullpen session. "When I went inside the 5 (Kyle Larson), I thought we were slow enough from the restart zone, and that was not the case.
"I get to take that, and I get to live with that. But from the outside, it doesn't look good. And the intention was just... It was an error. It's a big error to go bottom of five(-wide). That was not necessary."
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Chastain added that he felt he was in control of the No. 1 Chevrolet as he headed into the sharp Turn 1. The situation changed in the last third of the braking zone. This is when he locked up the rear of the car and tagged Elliott's No. 9 Chevrolet, spinning it into the middle of the pack.
This hit from Chastain damaged the toe link on Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He made multiple pit stops as the team made repairs, but he was able to get back onto the track. He and the No. 9 team rallied for six stage points on strategy and then secured a fourth-place finish.
Chastain finished 12th at COTA after getting out of Elliott's way in the closing laps.
Elliott, for his part, did not discuss the Lap 1 incident that sent him to pit road for some repairs. He told media members at Phoenix Raceway that he hated that the incident happened and that he hated that the team had to recover from it.
"Our car, just, never drove like it did on Saturday (at Circuit of the Americas), which was frustrating after that," Elliott said.