Ross Chastain mix-up with pit stop helped him win NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600

Ross Chastain admitted a pit stop mix-up played a key role in helping him win the Coca-Cola 600.

Chastain triumphed in the Crown Jewel race in dramatic fashion, overtaking William Byron late on to complete a remarkable drive after starting last. Byron later took aim at Joey Logano for his driving when being lapped by the leaders, while Denny Hamlin caught plenty of heat for his role in the overtake.

But it made little difference to Chastain, who was primed to pick off Byron with a handful of laps remaining, then hold off the charge of the No.24 to try and retake the lead. It came after he started last after being one of three drivers penalized before the race even started because he had to use his backup car. 

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Speaking on Amazon Prime Video after the race, a delighted Chastain revealed he benefited from fresher tires - an unintentional consequence of a breakdown in communication moments earlier. 

Chastain said: “To drive on that final run, in the World 600, and pass two cars that had been way better all night… Phil Surgen (crew chief) wanted me to pit two laps earlier. I went two laps longer just out of a bit of confusion, and man that paid off at the end.

“This Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher, and holy cow WE JUST WON THE WORLD 600!” 

Asked how he managed to fight back from the back of the pack to win, he hailed his team, who had to work frantically through the night on a replacement car after a blown tire in practice on Saturday ruined his chosen car. 

“How we drove through the field tonight was just stayed in it,” Chastain explained. “I didn’t get too happy when I was passing cars, I didn’t get too sad when we caught that first green flag cycle on the wrong side of it.

“But I passed them because my team built me a car, and they were there all night.” 

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A frustrated Byron said of the closing stages: “I was just defending, but he was catching me, and I was trying to just defend and I was getting a little bit tight.

“The scenario there, with just the cars we were around, it was tough. Got a run on me, he was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of two, so just disappointing.

“To lead that many laps, such a great effort by our whole team, I guess, could’ve anticipated that last run a little better. 

“I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up, then lost a bunch of time when the 45 crashed in front of us, so it sucks. We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.

“It’ll be good in the long term I guess but really wanted this one. Just a bummer, right? But try to learn from it.”