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Ross Chastain Debunks Steroid Claims, Revealing the Secret World of NASCAR Pit Crews as Athletes Move From Gridiron to Garages

Published 05/13/2023, 5:56 AM EDT

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Over the past few years, the myth around NASCAR not being a sport and drivers not being true athletes has receded into the corners. But if there were still some skeptics around this subject, well, Ross Chastain has something to say.

The Trackhouse Racing Team driver, who has been in the headlines of late (again) after his Watermelon Punch at the Kansas Speedway, made a pit stop at Pat McAfee’s podcast show. There, he described to the former NFL player the level at which NASCAR “athletes” operate and why some of them are the same build as football players.

USA Today via Reuters

Ross Chastain responds to a question about Mario Karts while pointing to athletes in NASCAR

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During his conversation with McAfee, Chastain was asked whether he plays Mario Kart, to which he claimed he leaves it to his pit crew. He explained, “We got some athletes on our team. I got 140+ employees at Trackhouse that work just to put the #99 and the #1 car on the track.

“We got mechanics that Justin Marks and Pitbull have hired to work on the cars that have been mechanics and worked with their hands, wrenches their whole life. We’ve got crew chiefs and engineers that are super smart. We have hauler drivers that travel all over the country.

“Then we have athletes hired to change the tires and fill it up the fuel in 9-second-only pit stops. The reason I brought it up … that’s the Mario Kart of our world. They’re all around their switches, on the plane and they are brawling on some Mario Kart after the races.”

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Chastain clarifies the steroid myth among the NASCAR pit crews

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After opening up on the Mario Kart aspect of his pit crew, the #1 driver was confronted with a question about college football players, who don’t make it to the NFL, getting into “the pit crew game.”

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“We got some guys that were in the league, we got a lot of college football players. It’s a competition. They love to compete,” Chastain replied.

As for whether or not those football players-turned-NASCAR pit crew members take steroids or “juice,” considering they have to “jack up the car in 9 seconds,” Chastain had a very prompt response.

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“We’re all clean man, all clean here,” he added.

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Written by:

Shaharyar

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Shaharyar is an experienced Senior NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. A journalist by heart and profession, he has been at the ‘wheel’ for nearly a decade after starting with Formula 1. He has penned over 1,700 articles on the sport.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal