Ross Chastain Rejects 'Spoiler' Label After Engine Failure Ends Chase Hopes

Ross Chastain is officially out of contention for the NASCAR Cup Series Chase. Heading into New Hampshire, the Trackhouse Racing driver needed to cut down a 63-point deficit to keep his championship hopes alive. But before he could make any moves at the Magic Mile, mechanical issues forced him out of the race.

Just 41 laps into the race, Chastain's No. 1 Chevrolet started smoking, and he had to take his car into the garage. The mechanical issues were beyond repair, and Chastain walked away with a single point and a DNF. Now that the driver is out of the championship race, there's very little he can do this year. However, he doesn't want to be labeled a spoiler in case he gets back to his winning ways.

“The old joke about being a spoiler has been used before. I don't want to use that, I'm saying it publicly. If we were to win this year, don't write that headline. Just know that we made our cars better and worked for it,” Ross Chastain said in an interview.

Trackhouse Racing Showing Signs of Improvement

For all the issues Trackhouse Racing has been facing this year, the team had started to make some gains. Before Loudon, Chastain had finished seventh and 12th at Iowa and Richmond, respectively. And there is a possibility that he could win a race during one of the 10 races in the Chase.

“The speed has gotten better, the speed was better this weekend. We keep moving forward on that as it's an important part. This is gonna happen in big-time NASCAR racing. In our control, we made things better for us. It's really tough to do in this series, I've learned, and we did get better,” Chastain added.

SVG was leading laps when NASCAR started the race on wet-weather tires. He led a total of 30 laps, and arguably, he's been the best driver so far for Trackhouse. Plus, he started the race in P5, suggesting that the team is finding the performance and speed that had been missing on oval racetracks.

However, this doesn't cover up the gaps and disappointment within the Trackhouse Racing camp. Going from being a championship contender to not making the top 16, Chastain's slump suggests there are some major issues the team needs to work on. He is currently sitting on a 49-race winless streak dating back to last year's Coca-Cola 600.

Unfortunately, Chastain's engine failure wasn't the only issue the team had to deal with at Loudon. Connor Zilisch once again found himself caught up in someone else's mess and wasn't able to make any positive impact.

Another DNF for Rookie Zilisch

Driving the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevy, Zilisch crashed out of the race on lap 222. He crashed into Riley Herbst, who himself had been involved in a big wreck after a hard battle with Michael McDowell.

Zilisch had enough time to slow down and avoid crashing into the No. 35 Toyota. But he locked up his tires and rammed hard into the car. The frustration of the young driver was evident in his radio message: “I'm so f****** horrible! Gosh, what am I doing!”

This was the ninth DNF of the season for Connor Zilisch and his seventh in the last 13 races. There's another statistic that details how difficult of a rookie year the driver is having. Zilisch has completed 5,278 laps this year, which is the fewest among the full-time drivers and more than 600 fewer than the next-lowest driver on the list, Josh Berry.

Things will be different for him when he moves to Hendrick Motorsports in 2028. Until then, he will have to gain confidence and get more laps behind the wheel. With 11 races remaining this season, he can focus on running clean races, putting together consistent finishes, and ending the 2026 campaign on a positive note.