“He got out of the driver’s seat and decided he wanted to talk as much now as he ever has,” Ross Chastain recently told ATYL Media when asked about Kevin Harvick’s comment that Chastain’s spot at Trackhouse might not be as secure as it once was. And now, Kevin Harvick has responded to Chastain’s callout with a blunt assessment of his own.

While Harvick understands why Chastain would push back, the former Cup Series champion believes the bigger issue is performance. In his view, Chastain has the ability, but his current equipment is not allowing him to show it consistently.

“We’re the ones here just talking about the things that happen on a weekly basis. And that’s a tough spot to be in from a driver standpoint, right? When your team is struggling and you’re not getting the results and look, there’s no doubt that Ross is capable of driving cars fast. And his stuff is not fast enough to reach his capability,” Harvick said on the latest episode of SPEED with Harvick and Buxton podcast.

Harvick’s point was not necessarily to dismiss Chastain’s frustration. Instead, he believes the Trackhouse Racing driver has every reason to be unhappy when the equipment beneath him is not matching his ability.

Chastain has already shown that he can contend at the highest level when his car gives him the opportunity. He finished second in the 2022 Cup Series standings and has established himself as one of the more aggressive and capable drivers in the field.

The problem, according to Harvick, is that the No. 1 Chevrolet has not consistently given Chastain the speed needed to turn that ability into results in 2026. This can be largely attributed to the redesigned Chevrolet car body. Multiple instances have shown major performance deficits, handling imbalances, and mechanical reliability hurdles with the Chevrolet cars (not only Trackhouse but Hendrick and others as well) throughout this season.

The same issues have plagued Chastain as well. As a result, he failed to make it to the Chase this year with just one top-5 finish to his name, and has an average finish of 20.1. That being said, van Gisbergen, on the other hand, managed two wins and missed out on the Chase only at the last moment due to Preece’s magical performance at Daytona.

The current scenario of driver contracts at Trackhouse makes the Chastain performance situation particularly interesting. Chastain (along with SVG and Zilisch) is entering the final year of his current contract with the organization in 2027, meaning questions about his long-term future are naturally going to become louder if the team’s performance does not improve.

Harvick’s earlier comments about Chastain’s position at Trackhouse helped spark the exchange in the first place. With Shane van Gisbergen continuing to build his value within Trackhouse and the organization developing its future driver lineup (with Zilisch set to leave for Hendrick after 2027), Chastain has reason to be conscious of where he stands.

Chastain’s response showed that he was paying attention to what was being said about him. Rather than simply accepting the speculation, he made it clear that he had noticed Harvick’s comments and was willing to respond.

Harvick, however, believes there is another way for a driver to handle criticism from the media. The former Cup champion explained that he went through a similar learning process during his own career.

In his early days at Richard Childress Racing, Harvick admitted that he frequently clashed with members of the media and sometimes decided which reporters he would or would not speak with.

That changed when he moved to Stewart-Haas Racing and began working closely with crew chief Rodney Childers. Instead of trying to avoid difficult questions, Harvick learned that addressing problems directly could actually give a driver greater control over the story.

His advice to Chastain is therefore rooted in experience. If the cars are not fast enough, Harvick believes the driver can still use his weekly media availability to apply pressure, explain the situation and shape the conversation.

But there is one catch. Harvick made it clear that talking about the problems can only accomplish so much if the results do not follow. Chastain finished 27th this weekend, one place below Shane van Gisbergen.

As Harvick put it, “Well, look, it’s great to have the big spoon, but you got to win.”

That may ultimately be the biggest message behind his response to Chastain. The media can create pressure, influence the narrative and give a driver a platform, but performance remains the strongest argument.

For Chastain, that means the path forward may be less about winning the argument with Harvick and more about getting the No. 1 Chevrolet back where he believes it belongs.