Following a post-race altercation, Gase issued a warning to Chastain about his playoff hopes
The NASCAR Xfinity Series had a stand alone race on Saturday at Mid-Ohio. When NASCAR heads to a road course, it’s more like short track racing with left and right hand turns.
On the final lap, Joey Gase and Ross Chastain found themselves in a heavy weight battle for the 16th position. That’s a big deal for these teams.
In turn 2, Gase put the bumper to Chastain and took the position. In turn 5, Chastain returned the favor. Only, Gase was also sent off the race track.
“If anybody ever touches him, it’s the other guys fault I guess,” Joey Gase told Matt Weaver. “He can race everyone else hard but when someone races him hard, it’s a problem.”
“Dipshit has to remember he’s the one trying to get into the Chase and I’m too far out … He just always races me really hard.”
Chastain is currently 12th in NXS standings with one top-5 finish. Gase is 21st in the standings with a best run of 16th which he claimed at Bristol and California.
Gase further explained…
“Basically, I drove him hard into the key [Turn 2] and raced him hard,” Joey Gase told NBCSports after the race. “He left the hole and I went there. I had the #5 right on me, I had to go.”
“He hit me in four or five different turns and never got off my bumper. Then, he pushed me to the sand.”
“So, I don’t really appreciate that a whole lot. He’s kinda Johnny Davis’ golden child and he can’t do anything wrong. He forgets that we’re right there with them now.”
Johnny Davis is the owner of JD Motorsports. Chastain has driven for the Xfinity Series team since 2015.
“The funny thing is, he also forgets that he’s trying to get into the Chase. He’s trying to do that off of points. So, we’ll make that really difficult for him.”
“We’re here to race too. People are used to me and this is the most sponsorship I’ve ever had. So, this is the best I’ve ever ran. People forget where I’ve been and where I am now.”
Joey Gace spent the previous four seasons with Jimmy Means Racing. For 2018, he’s driving for Go Green Racing. This year, he has 8 top-10 runs. That’s more than the last four season combined.
16th place is important for these guys. This is the race within the race.
After the race…
Joey Gase swerved toward Ross Chastain as the field returned to the pit lane after the race. At this point, fans and media were walking around on pit lane. They then aggressively followed each other down pit road.
The drivers finally came to a stop. They both exited their race cars. Gase went up to have a chat with Chastain.
What isn’t shown in the video below was the highlight of the altercation. One of the larger crew members from JD Motorsports tackled the little mass of Joey Gase. It was an attempt to separate the rival driver from his own.
The NASCAR official on the scene was able to calm them down. He told Gase to exit the scene, he did.
“Basically, I tried to go talk to him and his guy tried to block me. So, I shoved him out of the way and all hell broke loose. He has a four car team and we don’t have that many people,” Gase explained.
After the altercation, Gase was called to the NASCAR hauler. Specially, it was for the action on pit road.
Ross Chastain comments
On Sunday, Ross Chastain flew to Michigan International Speedway. Reed Sorenson took care of practice and qualifying. Chastain jumped into the Premium Motorsports machine for the NASCAR Cup Series race.
As he landed in Michigan, Chastain was asked about the altercation yesterday…
“I wasn’t involved in anything after the race,” Chastain deflected the questions from Claire B Lange via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. “Just happy with how fast our #4 car was.”
Chastain was made aware of Gase’s comments about making the race to the playoffs a bit difficult. Chastain wasn’t engaged…
“I’m just excited to get going in the #15 car here today.”
Chastain went on to talk about the track, the rain and weather sirens. But, he didn’t have anything to say about Gase or the altercation. It was a grade A deflection.
Next week, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway, better known as the payback track. Ross Chastain is scheduled to run all three races at Bristol. The following week, they head to Road America.
Joey Gase comments on Ross Chastain
Trouble playing the videos below? Click here
Joey Gase says Ross Chastain always races him hard.
Here’s his side of what happened at Mid-Ohio. pic.twitter.com/Eo4C1HFCNg
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) August 11, 2018
Joey Gase vs Ross Chastain
Fight in the paddock.
Ross Chastain and Joey Gase got into it on the track and again on pit road.
By time I got there, a crew member had tackled Gase. pic.twitter.com/YairNYxf6U
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) August 11, 2018
More
Related: Ross Chastain details the fight with Brendan Gaughan (2017)
Related: Brendan Gaughan vs Ross Chastain (2017)
Links
Joey Gase | Ross Chastain | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | NASCAR
