NASCAR's biggest villain wrecked Kyle Larson just days after the ex-champ praised his 'awesome' tactics
- Ross Chastain found himself in the middle of controversy again, wrecking Kyle Larson in Darlington.
- Larson had just praised Chastain's controversial style days earlier.
When controversy happens in NASCAR, Ross Chastain is seemingly never too far away.
Chastain found himself in the middle of it again this weekend when he and Kyle Larson wrecked in the final laps at the Darlington race as the two drivers battled for the lead.
Just a few laps after Larson had pushed Chastain up into the wall, he returned the favor on a restart, shoving the former champion up to the wall. It did not work well for Chastain as he lost control of his car and spun in front of Larson, costing both drivers a shot at the win.
While this is seemingly a weekly occurrence for Chastain — he got into a fistfight with Noah Gragson just one week ago — this one has a bitter twist as it came just days after Larson had praised Chastain and his controversial style.
In Larson's most recent episode of his "High Limit Room with Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet" podcast, Larson spoke about Chastain's fight with Gragson.
"I kinda love it," Larson said. "I think Ross is great. At this point, I think he is sort of like owning it. And I think he's got the potential to be more popular than Chase Elliott. So I think it's awesome. He's moving the needle."
To put Chastain in Elliott's company is a bold statement, as the 2020 champion and son of also-popular Bill Elliott has regularly been voted NASCAR's most popular driver.
Larson's comments have a similar tone to those of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr, who said the sport needs more drivers like Chastain.
"Ross is that I-don't-care-I'm-not-here-to-make-friends guy that we need in the sport," Earnhardt said on his "Dale Jr Download" podcast. "Boy, have we lacked some of that. Ross is a guy that's come in, and he's out there racing like he's not getting a check. Every spot he's racing for is worth food on the table. Bit of a throwback in the way drives, in my opinion. He doesn't give an inch, and we need a lot of guys out there like that. The more, the better."
Larson's comments are unsurprising as he is one of NASCAR's friendliest drivers and typically steers clear of controversy. However, his boss, legendary owner Rick Hendrick, was less than thrilled with Chastain's latest antics, especially considering both teams — Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing — are Chevy partners.
"I don't care if he's driving a Chevrolet if he wrecks our cars," Hendrick told the media. "I don't care. I've told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you're going to get it back. If you don't do it, they'll run all over you. I'm loyal to Chevrolet, but when somebody runs over us, then I expect my guys to hold their ground. I'm not going to ask them to yield just because of Chevrolet."
Hendrick went on to share a feeling that other drivers and analysts have also expressed about Chastain — that he is hurting himself more than the other drivers.
"He doesn't have to be that aggressive," Hendrick said. "I guess at this point in the race, maybe you're super aggressive, but you just don't run people up in the fence. He's going to make a lot of enemies. It's hard to win a championship when you've got a lot of paybacks out there."