Ross Chastain makes bizarre error in playoff fight, blowing pit road exit

Chastain's path to the Round of 8 was complicated by a major pit road error

Ross Chastain entered this race 13 points Joey Logano in the battle around the NASCAR Cup playoff cutline.

In the opening stage, the Trackhouse driver made big gains as he scored six stage points with a fifth-place finish in Stage 1. Three-time and defending Cup champion Logano scored none, bringing the margin down to just seven.

After a solid pit stop, he made an unusual mistake at the exit of pit road. He was to the outside of another car, blowing the exit and locking up as he was moments away from striking the barrier. He quickly drove back through the field, but radios lit up as rival teams called for him to be put to the back of the field.

The standard is that if a driver fails to maintain pace car speed for whatever reason, they will be placed wherever they ended up after getting back up to speed.

Chastain was going to restart 15th with fresh tires. However, after NASCAR reviewed the incident, they put him back to 30th place, costing him 15 spots and essentially denying him any chance of scoring additional stage points in Stage 2.

In a single moment, he went from being in a perfect position to a longshot in the battle to advance. He now has to cut his way back through the field, and the team will have to adjust their strategy accordingly.

Somehow, he still managed to gain four extra points on Logano in Stage 2, bringing the gap down to three points.

Later in the race, he made another mistake when he sped on pit road, but he still had a shot at Logano. On the final lap, he wrecked Hamlin and spun himself out, reversing across the line in a wild attempt to escape elimination.