For the past four years, Ross Chastain has carried the Trackhouse Racing flag. Fetching memorable moments like the iconic ‘wall ride’ of the 2022 Martinsville race or his 2025 Coca-Cola 600 win, Chastain has been riding high. In the background, however, Chastain’s team has transitioned significantly. Although it did not significantly impact Chastain’s racetrack results, the racer could not help but look back at more interesting times.

Ross Chastain sheds light on past transition

“Early on, we had speakers behind the hauler, we had live musicians playing guitar, it was like Broadway. We don’t do a lot of that; we’re there to try to win. No, they still do creative stuff, they just moved those events to other markets in town or down in a bar with Trackhouse Live or something,” Ross Chastain said recently on Episode 314 of Dinner with Racers.

Back in June 2021, Trackhouse Racing acquired the assets of Chip Ganassi Racing. This allowed Trackhouse to expand from a single-car to a two-car team for the 2022 season. Ross Chastain, who had joined CGR at the end of 2020 to drive the No. 42 car, transitioned into Trackhouse. And alongside, he also experienced a burst of cultural expression. Although the team has cut down its musical ventures, Chastain admitted to missing them.

“I didn’t think that a young, aspiring musician playing for Trackhouse was any kind of distraction. I thought it was cool; just sit there, humming the acoustic, strumming the guitar a little bit. But the optics aren’t always the best of what we’re focused on.”

Although the music has ceased, Ross Chastain continues to build his ambitions around Trackhouse Racing. Having cracked the playoffs with a prestigious Coca-Cola 600 win in 2025, Chastain now looks forward to higher feats in 2026. That is especially after a rule change that allows Cup Series drivers to start more races. His new teammates include road course racing talents Shane van Gisbergen, a former Supercars driver, and Connor Zilisch, the 10-race rookie winner in the 2025 Xfinity Series season.

While pursuing his ambitions under Trackhouse, however, Ross Chastain also reflected on his previous team owner’s ambitions.

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A mind-boggling early exit

“I thought Chip had been in NASCAR for 20 years and was gonna be in it 20 more. Relatively young owner for owner standards, established, building sponsorship around me. Clover was a huge partner of Kyle Larson. I thought we were building something good with them. I thought AdventHealth was a huge partner of mine; they put me in the 3rd car, the 77,” Ross Chastain said recently. “Chip was gonna be there for 20 more years, but he sells it in August. Nobody knew; they were announcing it that day. It was wild. I cannot imagine they kept it as tight-lipped as they did.”

Chip Ganassi‘s NASCAR tenure spanned two decades between 2001 and 2021. Notable achievements involved merging with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and offering a springboard for now two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. But before it shuttered, it made sure to offer a gateway for Ross Chastain. The latter replaced Matt Kenseth, who had come out of retirement to replace Kyle Larson following the latter’s suspension. And then Chastain’s trajectory changed in 2021.

Ross Chastain’s career has gone through unexpected transitions. Nevertheless, the Cup Series star continues to build his skills no matter what. Let’s wait and see what 2026 holds for him.