Shane van Gisbergen faced a ton of problems in Kansas. Due to an unapproved adjustment on the No. 88 Chevrolet, SVG’s usual crew chief, Stephen Doran, was ejected. He also owed NASCAR a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag dropped on the NASCAR playoff race. What is more, he also got into a risky three-wide situation with William Byron and Alex Bowman. Even after all these hiccups, SVG came away with a better finish and better hopes than his teammate, Ross Chastain.

The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy driver fetched a crown jewel win in late May this year. Ross Chastain’s Coca-Cola 600 trophy raised his fans’ expectations about the rest of the season. However, a stretch of drab performances followed, and now Chastain’s future looks hazy.

Is Ross Chastain left out?

Ever since Ross Chastain’s victory in Charlotte, Trackhouse has taken a backseat in ovals. The entire organization has a total of just five top-10 finishes on these tracks, with Chastain claiming two of those. What is more,  Chastain has been out front for only 14 laps in the last 18 races, the worst stretch of his career with the organization. The “Melon Man” also has only three top-five finishes, eight other top 10s, and 72 laps led in 2025. So Kevin Harvick highlighted “the expectations for the 1 car to consistently run in the top five and win, and be the anchor of the team.” 

Ross Chastain has also not been part of the major upheavals inside Trackhouse. The team is hiring Randall Burnett to work as generational talent Connor Zilisch’s crew chief. On top of that, former Cup Series champion Rodney Childers is entering JR Motorsports to support Zilisch and Carson Kvapil. So Kevin Harvick is concerned that Chastain may be left out. He continued, “What do they do with that 1 car? Because Ross is kind of in that weird spot as far as where all of that is going to line out…You see the effort that’s going into the Zilisch program, they’ve built a whole program for SVG.” 

While Ross Chastain is worrying Harvick, SVG is dazzling the 2014 Cup Series champion. Despite all the hurdles, Shane van Gisbergen powered through to a top ten finish in Kansas – his first top ten at an oval. Harvick marveled at the road course star’s progress on ovals: “I think this was one of those weekends that really showed how much better he has become at racing on ovals…His maturity level and his knowledge of being able to look through the data and critique himself. You have to be able to critique yourself, and you have to be able to take criticism. But you have to be able to learn how to apply it. And I think his racing IQ is high, and I think he’ll continue to be better.”

Clearly, Trackhouse Racing’s developments are intriguing in terms of its drivers’ futures. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain is focusing on the present tasks.

Gearing up for another battle

Ross Chastain finished in 11th place in Kansas, one spot below SVG. He earned 35 points after strong runs in Stage 1 and 2. Yet unfortunately, that early-race speed did not translate into good results for Chastain. The Trackhouse star reflected on his struggles: “We fought around 10th place all day. I thought our No. 1 Chevrolet showed signs of brilliance at the beginning and at the end of Stage 1. I thought we were really strong, and then I just never had that feeling again. We just couldn’t get the balance right and the grip to go with it. We’ll regroup and get ready for the Charlotte Roval next weekend.”

Ross Chastain won at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Yet his upcoming race at the Roval will be wildly different, as he faces a rival. That is none other than Joey Logano, with whom Chastain had a heated scuffle earlier at Chicago. Chastain had made contact with Logano’s car on lap 64, and the latter’s car ran into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Another spirited battle is coming up next weekend. Only 13 points separate Logano (3,083) and Chastain (3,070) headed into the playoff elimination race at Charlotte. Logano is eighth and Chastain ninth out of 12 remaining playoff drivers headed into the final race of the Round of 12.

With multiple tests in line for Ross Chastain, we can only hope for the best for the Trackhouse Racing driver. Let’s see if he can survive the Round of 8 in the playoffs.