Times are good at the camp of Trackhouse Racing. For the first time since the current playoff format began in 2014, a non-championship 4 driver has won the season finale at Phoenix and he is from the garages of Justin Marks. The #1 Chevrolet Camaro’s driver, Ross Chastain had missed out on making it past the Round of 12 this year. But boy, did he make up for that in Sunday’s ultimate showdown!

Leading a race-high 157 laps, he got the better of all 4 championship contenders and ended up grabbing the chequered flag for himself. After breaking a watermelon, as is his tradition, he later got the better of one other person. Falling victim to him outside the oval was none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A cheeky Ross Chastain pulls one over racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr

The crew members of the #1 team were all smiles after they’d beaten the 2023 Champion Ryan Blaney. Though the Team Penske star had got the better of his title contenders, he couldn’t quite get past Ross Chastain. By conquering Phoenix, Chastain puts a satisfying full stop to his season with two wins in 2023. His first came at Nashville back in June. The race day saw him engaged in a tight battle for the lead with Kevin Harvick initially. Coincidentally, Harvick is an idol of Chastain and the driver couldn’t be more thrilled that he’d raced his hero.

All the joys that he’d accumulated through the day maybe gave him the cheekiness to mess with Dale Jr. As the ‘Pied Piper of Daytona’, walked around engaging with the Trackhouse Racing team, Chastain pulled a little prank on him that left the scene in a laughter riot. The act ending up with the driver getting kicked in his rear end. The team’s social media arm posted a video of it on their “X” handle. They wrote, “The best prank of all-time?”

Just minutes after the post from the team went online, the racing legend quickly hit back at it with his words and joined in on the fun.

Watch Story: Racing Regrets: Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Revelations

Dale Earnhardt Jr reacts to getting fooled by the Championship-4 defeater

Responding to the tweet from Trackhouse Racing, Dale Earnhardt Junior reacted in his own hilarious fashion.

Ross Chastain’s win came after he was engaged in an on-track battle with Ryan Blaney that was cheeky in equal measure. As the two raced for the lead, the 2023 champion was frustrated to the point that he purposefully bumped Chastain’s #1 car from behind. But little did that nudge the Trackhouse driver. Talking to the media in the aftermath, he admitted that he was trying to do everything to stop Blaney from getting ahead. He said, “I knew he was mad. I did not care then. I do not care now.”

However, he had also expressed that he had no intention of wrecking the Team Penske star. Despite the messy battle between the two, the day ended in the green for both drivers and they went home happy men.

Read More: Ross Chastain Creates History in Phoenix After 9 Years