Ross Chastain hangs on to win Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway

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Ross Chastain has been criticized as reckless and too aggressive, a driver seen as giving no respect and not deserving any from competitors.

His hard-driving style paid off Sunday night as Chastain held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, his first win in over a year and the third NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.

Chastain said everyone has to deal with criticism. His approach? Just keep working.

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Ross Chastain holds a guitar presented to him after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, June 25, 2023, in Lebanon, Tenn.  (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

"I got to tell you, a lot of self-reflection through all this, but I had a group that believed in me and they didn’t let me get down," Chastain said. "And they bring rocket ships, and I just try to point them to victory lane."

This was Chastain's first win since Talladega in April 2022, and he drove his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to the team's first victory this year at its home track. Chastain had started on the pole for the first time in his career.

Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said he talked with Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske for advice on handling a hard-charging driver after Chastain's late crash off a restart at Darlington took both him and Hendrick star Kyle Larson out of contention as they raced for the lead.

Marks compared Chastain's learning curve to that of Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart — aggressive drivers who had to learn how to compete at the Cup level. Marks called this a "huge win" for Trackhouse and a big moment for Chastain, who went three-wide during