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No. 1 NASCAR Chevy Beats Championship 4 To Phoenix Win: Video

Ross Chastain and the No. 1 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 didn’t make the Championship 4 in the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, but that didn’t stop him from bringing a race-winning performance to Phoenix Raceway on November 5th, 2023. In fact, he beat all four of the championship contenders across the line to take the checkered flag – something that hasn’t been done since the Playoffs format was implemented in 2014.

Chastain led 157 of 312 laps during the race, passing Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry after a restart on Lap 282. He never looked back, and went on to win by 1.230 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney, whose No. 12 Ford Mustang won the overall 2023 Cup Series championship. In fact, Blaney and Chastain traded paint a few times as the former attempted to make the pass for the win, but Chastain didn’t surrender the lead, even though he wasn’t racing for the title.

“I was not going to crash him,” Chastain said of Blaney in a postrace interview. “I was not going to use my front bumper, side fenders, anything. Dirty air? Different story. Yeah, I’m going to. I’m going to keep the lead because that’s everything. Before the second-to-last run, I thought we had [Blaney] covered… then that last caution came out, and I asked [crew chief] Phil [Surgen] and the guys to please let me turn better without getting any rear grip.”

Chastain added, “I just knew we could hold [Blaney] off.”

Meanwhile, championship contenders Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Camaro, and William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Camaro, weren’t able to get past Blaney when it mattered most.

“Yeah, his car was really fast,” Larson, who finished third, said. “Really the last few months. Yeah, especially here today.”

Byron ultimately finished just behind Larson in fourth after leading 95 laps.

“Once the track rubbered in, we got really tight,” he said. “Especially when we lost the lead on track, we just had a big balance shift and got tight back in second through fifth, just couldn’t gain a lot of speed through [Turns] 1 and 2, just kind of having to really over-slow the car, get it to the bottom. That’s all we had there.”

NASCAR Cup Series Race Results, Phoenix Raceway, November 5, 2023
Finish Start Car Number Driver Team Laps Run Laps Led Car
1 8 1 Ross Chastain Worldwide Express Chevrolet 312 157 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
2 15 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 312 2 Ford Mustang
3 4 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
4 1 24 William Byron (P) Axalta Chevrolet 312 95 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
5 9 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 312 18 Ford Mustang
6 2 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 312 1 Toyota TRD Camry
7 3 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Harvick Ford 312 23 Ford Mustang
8 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Toyota 312 14 Toyota TRD Camry
9 19 34 Michael McDowell Love's/Delo Ford 312 0 Ford Mustang
10 5 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota 312 0 Toyota TRD Camry
11 16 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
12 21 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
13 28 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 312 0 Ford Mustang
14 12 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 312 0 Ford Mustang
15 31 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 312 0 Ford Mustang
16 20 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
17 23 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
18 17 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 312 0 Ford Mustang
19 22 42 Carson Hocevar(i) Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
20 7 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Allways Rewards Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
21 11 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 312 0 Toyota TRD Camry
22 10 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota Toyota 312 0 Toyota TRD Camry
23 24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fry's/Cheez-It Chevrolet 312 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
24 26 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 312 2 Ford Mustang
25 18 8 Kyle Busch 3CHI Chevrolet 311 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
26 25 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 311 0 Ford Mustang
27 34 15 JJ Yeley(i) Total Point/Patriot Mobile Ford 311 0 Ford Mustang
28 33 77 Ty Dillon Gainbridge Chevrolet 310 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
29 35 31 Justin Haley Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 310 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
30 14 38 Todd Gilliland Boot Barn Ford 309 0 Ford Mustang
31 29 7 Corey LaJoie NEGU Chevrolet 308 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
32 32 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 308 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
33 36 78 BJ McLeod(i) Pala Casino Chevrolet 306 0 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
34 30 51 Ryan Newman(i) Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford 305 0 Ford Mustang
35 27 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 301 0 Ford Mustang
36 13 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem/DEWALT Toyota 108 0 Toyota TRD Camry

# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible

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Alexandra is a Colorado-based journalist with a passion for all things involving horsepower, be it automotive or equestrian.

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