Did Ross Chastain And Shane Van Gisbergen Cheat After NASCAR’s St. Louis Race?

By Gary Gastelu |

Sep 9, 2025

The NASCAR Cup Series At World Wide Technology Raceway — (NASCAR via Getty Images)

You usually don’t want to drive through the grass during a NASCAR race, but afterwards? It might be beneficial … if you don’t get caught.

That’s what Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen were spotted doing on the way back to the pits on Sunday after Denny Hamlin’s win as they veered off the pavement.

Speculation is that they were trying to pick up some dirt and debris on their tires to add weight to their cars so that they wouldn’t be disqualified for being underweight. Both cars are in the playoffs and subject to post-race inspections.

Formula One drivers regularly veer to the side of the track to pick up the rubber “marbles” that come off tires during the race for the same reason, but don’t leave the racing surface.

Macbook keeps freezing, so here is a grainier video of Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen going through the grass multiple times coming to pit road after the race. https://t.co/hwtRg1dLxB pic.twitter.com/p0j5wgGPYP
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) September 7, 2025

Trackhouse hasn’t commented on the incident and no disciplinary action was taken, but NASCAR Cup Series general manager Brad Moran said on Sirius XM radio on Tuesday that ‘“we have rules that could put the teams in a real bad spot when we see that. So, we’ll make it pretty clear to them, moving forward, starting at Bristol, what that means.”

Chastain is in 11th place +19 points above the cut-off line heading into the last race of the first playoffs round at Bristol on Saturday night while Van Gisbergen is -15 points below it in 14th place.