Second verse, same as the first: Like Busch at Bristol, Chastain 'didn't do anything' at 'Dega (plus full results, points, notes)

Do you think maybe Chip Ganassi may regret selling his old team, given the success it has had thus far this season with two wins in the first 10 races?

Graphic courtesy Dylan Bauerle Racing

Editor's Note: Race results, notes and updated driver standings follow at end of this story.

This is getting redundant!

For the second straight NASCAR Cup race, the winning driver said and did the same exact thing.

Here’s your proof:

On the final lap of last week’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch seemingly stunned himself by sneaking by a sliding Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe, needing to go roughly just 250 feet to take the checkered flag.

One of Busch’s first comments after capturing the checkered flag was, “I didn’t even do anything.”

Even without supposedly doing anything, Busch earned his 60th career Cup win and a berth in this year’s NASCAR Cup playoffs by leading just one lap – the last one – at Bristol.

Now let’s move ahead to Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

In an almost identical way that things played out, Ross Chastain found himself like Busch – in the right place at the right time – and crossed the finish line with his second career win (and second of this season).

Ross Chastain celebrates after winning Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Not only did Chastain take the “W” by leading only the final lap, he also practically parroted what Busch said after Bristol, excitedly exclaiming on his team radio, “Holy cow! I didn’t do anything. We just stayed down there.”

In Talladega-speak, “just stayed down there” means the eighth-generation Florida watermelon farmer chose to ride the low line around Talladega’s 2.66-mile layout, while others tried to go to the middle or the high line, only to either fall back or get caught up in the typical last-lap ‘Dega chaos and mayhem.

The Florida native ran a very smart race, staying near the front of the pack and then making the winning move by staying low and out of the pending fray that came.

“Holy cow, I’m always the one going to the top too early and making the mistake,” Chastain told Fox Sports. “There at the end, it was like eight (laps) to go, and I’m not going up there again. I did it a couple times today. I’ll just drive the bottom, if it works for us. I’m not going to lose the race for us, I’ll just let them (his opponents start moving up the track). I have no idea. They kept going up and moving out of the way.”

Chastain’s second career Cup win came almost one month to the day of his first triumph in NASCAR’s premier series (March 27 at Circuit of the Americas) – and also marked the second win for the upstart Trackhouse Racing organization, which was formed prior to the 2021 season in a partnership between team owner Justin Marks and superstar rapper Armando “Pitbull” Perez.

One thing that is particularly refreshing about Chastain is his honesty and transparency. When Fox Sports’ Regan Smith asked Chastain, “You came to Trackhouse Racing this season. Could you ever imagine this amount of success this early on in your tenure here?”, Chastain did not disappoint with his answer.

“No, Regan, are you kidding me?” Chastain told Smith. “You know me. I’ve wrecked myself so many times and have gotten into it with guys. (Primary team owner) Justin Marks and what he laid out for us was ambitious and I had no idea of what to expect.”

WINNERS!! We did it (AGAIN)!! Thank you @MooseFraternity @TeamTrackhouse and @TeamChevy! pic.twitter.com/cfprRF4sfe

— Ross Chastain (@RossChastain) April 25, 2022

After taking a couple bites out of perhaps the sweetest-tasting watermelon he’s ever had after his ‘Dega win, Chastain continued with a shoutout to Pitbull.

“We’ve got partners and they’re believing in us,” Chastain said. “We started the year with a lot of races open (the car lacking sponsorship) and now we’re almost full. And it’s because of the vision of Justin Marks and Pitbull. Armando, we won, yeah!”

Lost in all the excitement and exuberance of Sunday’s win was a somewhat glaring omission of sorts. Yes, Chastain is a very talented driver, but if it hadn’t of been for now former Cup team owner Chip Ganassi, Chastain might not have been in victory lane Sunday.

Ganassi brought Chastain up to the Cup level last season, and the young driver finished with three top-5 and eight top-10 finishes. When Ganassi decided to sell his entire NASCAR operation to Marks and Perez at the end of last season, it was unclear whether Marks would retain Chastain.

Ganassi reportedly went to bat for his young driver and told Marks that he needed to keep Chastain and that he was primed for success, maybe even a breakout season.

Ganassi couldn’t have been more spot-on with his advice to Marks, and a budding new NASCAR star has been born.

But there is one potential downside to this tale: knowing how competitive Ganassi is, and given the success Chastain and Trackhouse Racing have had this season, one must wonder if perhaps Ganassi may have slapped his forehead  after Sunday's Cup race and said to himself, “I sold the team and the watermelon guy has now won two races in the first 10 of this season. What the heck was I thinking?”

Follow Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski