Ross Chastain driving sparks brutally honest verdict from NASCAR legend

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr has offered a brutally honest take on Ross Chastain and his driving style.

Chastain raced for Earnhardt Jr's JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series earlier this season at COTA and Darlington, and during the latter, he once again rubbed up some of his rivals the wrong way.

This time it was fellow Cup Series stars Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott that he upset on the way to his P4 finish, involved in incidents with both on that occasion.

Discussing Chastain and his driving style on the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr addressed the 'Melon Man' and his aggression on track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr brutally honest on Ross Chastain

"It's like Austin Hill," Dale Jr explained on his podcast, comparing Chastain to another driver who has been accused of driving aggressively. "If he was driving my car, right, dude, I would be all about what he's doing and how he drives.

"But I race against it, right, and so when I raced against Chastain in the Xfinity Series, I did not like the way he drove.

"I did not like how he drove around my cars because he could easily lure Justin Allgaier into a damn fist-to-fist battle around Watkins Glen and there we are duking it out for 15th, beating the s**t out of our race car.

"But, when he's in your car you're like yeah man, hell yeah, slide 'em, slide 'em. Squeeze them into the wall. Was that Christopher Bell, he's pretty fast, now he's squeezing into the wall."

Chastain currently sits 11th in the Cup Series standings after a steady start to the 2025 season.

The driver of the No. 1 Chevy has registered five finishes inside the top 10 in the opening nine races, with his best result having been a P5 at Las Vegas in March.

READ MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr issues fiery challenge to Kyle Larson after controversial comments

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