Ross Chastain Finished The Charlotte Roval Race In Reverse As He Was Eliminated From The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

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Oct 5, 2025
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Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin at the Charlotte Roval
Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen won the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as expected, but the real fun was happening in the back of the pack.

Ross Chastain and Joey Logano were battling for the final transfer spot into the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 and it came down to the last lap.a

The match-up was as close as it was largely due to two mistakes Chastain made in pit lane.

The first came after the end of Stage 1 when he almost missed pit exit and had to stop as cars drove by, dropping him from 15 to 30th before he could rejoin for the restart.

Then, after clawing his way back and getting a comfortable points lead on Logano, he picked the wrong gear on the way out of his stall on his final pit stop, and was issued a drive-through penalty for speeding.

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Logano made another pit stop as Chastain stayed out to move ahead in the points, but started getting passed by cars with with fresher tires in the closing laps. As Van Gisbergen crossed the line, Chastain was still one point to the good on Logano with Denny Hamlin on his tail. Hamlin then passed him in the Turn 7 hairpin and pulled away.

Chastain, who knocked Hamlin out of the 2022 playoffs with his infamous “Hail Melon” wall ride at Martinsville, dive-bombed Hamlin into the final chicane and spun both of their cars. He then shifted into reverse and raced backwards as three cars and then Logano’s passed before he could cross the finish line.

Chastain took the blame for the result. “Unforced errors, just terrible,” he said on USA after the race.

The win was Van Gisbergen’s fifth of the season and fifth consecutive road course win, but he was eliminated from the playoffs during the Round of 16. Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell filled out the top five.

The eight drivers that advance to the next round are Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe and Logano.