Ross Chastain is NASCAR's greatest villain, however Dale Earnhardt Jr. insists the game wants extra racers like him

• Ross Chastain was once more in the midst of an unpleasant scene throughout a NASCAR race.
• Noah Gragson confronted Chastain after the race, resulting in a battle that did not go nicely for Gragson.
• Many individuals do not like Chastain, however Dale Earnhardt Jr says NASCAR wants extra drivers like him.

Ross Chastain’s aggressive driving type has ruffled feathers amongst many NASCAR drivers and followers, however racing icon Dale Earnhardt Jr. contends that this degree of depth is exactly what the game requires.

Earnhardt lauded Chastain on his “Dale Jr Obtain” podcast final season, calling him an “old-school” driver who refuses to again down or surrender positions, and highlighting the arduous path Chastain took to succeed in NASCAR’s premier sequence.

“Ross is a lightning rod at this level,” Earnhardt stated on the podcast. “Ross is all about him, I assume in a egocentric approach, however you may’t fault him for it. He is labored actually arduous to place himself on this place, and he isn’t going to surrender something to lose it … if you cannot deal with it, you may’t deal with it. If meaning you do not wish to be his buddy, he is tremendous with that.”

Chastain as soon as once more discovered himself amidst controversy at Kansas Speedway this week when he and rookie Noah Gragson fought after the rivals had been racing side-by-side, and Gragson wrecked shortly after. However whereas Chastain’s driving has irked different drivers like Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt sees Chastain’s depth as one thing NASCAR sorely wants.

“Ross is that I-don’t-care-I am-not-here-to-make-friends man that we’d like within the sport,” Earnhardt stated. “Boy, have we lacked a few of that. Ross is a man that is are available in, and he is on the market racing like he isn’t getting a test. Each spot he is racing for is price meals on the desk. Little bit of a throwback in the best way drives, for my part. He would not give an inch, and we’d like lots of guys on the market like that. The extra, the higher.”

Following this week’s race, Gragson confronted Chastain, which escalated right into a brawl when Gragson grabbed Chastain, who retaliated by punching Gragson earlier than the drivers had been separated.

Chastain has been on the middle of many on-track incidents, prompting Gragson to say after the battle that different drivers urged him to confront Chastain.

Chastain’s most notable incidents concerned Hamlin and two-time champion Kyle Busch, who turned Chastain right into a verb after a race in 2022.

“We obtained Chastain’d this week,” Busch instructed Fox after the Richmond race. “We had been his sufferer this week.”

However Hamlin, who beforehand expressed probably the most frustration in direction of Chastain, appears to have mellowed considerably.

After Hamlin gained this week’s race, Chastain congratulated him in victory lane. Later, Hamlin appeared to defend Chastain’s punch, grinning and mentioning that Chastain warned Gragson earlier than delivering the haymaker.

—Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 7, 2023