"Everything" changed after second Cup Series win - Chastain

Ross Chastain is living life as a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner these days and he admitted Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway there is a difference from having just one win.

“Oh yeah,” he said with a laugh. “Everything.”

The seas parted for Chastain last weekend at Talladega. Coming through the tri-oval on the final lap, Chastain had patience and stuck to the bottom while leader Erik Jones chased second-place Kyle Larson up the track. Chastain drove by both and held off Austin Dillon for the victory.

“It’s twice as sweet, right?” Chastain said. “That was the phrase we ran with [on t-shirts]. It’s just unbelievable because Talladega was just not expected. COTA — yes — we felt like we had a good car and we did everything right. It got wild at the end.

"Twice As Sweet" @melonmanbrand @TALLADEGA win shirts are here!

Get yours here – https://t.co/Lcw4OmRNZ0 pic.twitter.com/KBXFCyc6e6

— Ross Chastain (@RossChastain) April 26, 2022

“But Talladega — we took the white flag and I unwrapped my thumbs from the steering wheel, ready to crash. [You] just hold your thumbs up and [be] ready to plug the wall or be backwards in the grass.”

Chastain led one lap at Talladega. His first career win, which was also the first win for the Trackhouse Racing organization, was March 27 after a back and forth last-lap battle with AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman.

It took Chastain 121 starts to win one race. He now has two wins in his last five starts.

“The unexpectedness of it caught me…and a lot of us off guard,” Chastain said. “But winning in the Cup Series — I had no idea when my last one will be and a month ago I didn’t know if I would ever win. The grind doesn’t stop with two wins. We come to Dover and put ourselves in position to do it again.”

Chastain qualified seventh for the Duramax Drydene 400 at Dover (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1).