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In sports, the guy people love to hate is often the same guy lining his wallet and laughing all the way to the bank thanks to his success and the notoriety that he receives.
Such is the case today with driver Ross Chastain in NASCAR.
“It doesn’t matter if they are booing or cheering, as long as they’re making noise,” NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, a man nicknamed “The Intimidator,” once said.
Following in the footsteps of people like Earnhardt, Kyle Busch, and other tremendously successful drivers, Ross Chastain is one of the most hated men in NASCAR.
"It doesn't matter if they are booing or cheering, as long as they're making noise." – Dale Earnhardt@KyleBusch is embracing the noise from the @RichmondRaceway crowd. pic.twitter.com/IzWyRLBe4k
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 23, 2018
Not that there isn’t some valid reasons for the dislike. Ross Chastain often appears to be driving over his head (and has even admitted such) in a reckless attempt to win every race.
Chastain’s insane wide wall-ride at Martinsville last year showed the lengths he will go to get to the front.
Feuds with Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and most recently, Noah Gragson (who Chastain punched after Sunday’s race) have fans wringing their hands over his racing tactics.
They, however, are all just being big babies, according to NASCAR legend Kyle Petty.
“Oay, everybody likes to complain about Ross Chastain,” Petty said in a new video for NASCAR. “He is what Joey Logano was. We go back a number of years, everybody liked to complain about Joey Logano. If we go back in my time, I’m gonna to say Darrell Waltrip, I’m gonna to say Dale Earnhardt, I’m gonna say Ernie Irvan, I’m gonna say a lot of guys.
“Because what happens is, when you have a new guy running at the sharp end of the stick, what I mean is, winning races and challenging the establishment, people are going to complain.
“There was a race last year that Christopher Bell complained that Ross Chastain did something to him and Ross Chastain was not even on the same straightaway, people!
“Get off of Ross Chastain’s back,” Petty continued. “Here’s the deal: Ross Chastain drives like Richard Petty, like Cale Yarborough, like Dale Earnhardt, Sr. did in a lot of ways, like Joey Logano does. He has one purpose, it’s to win the race. He didn’t come to make friends, he didn’t come to bake you a cake, to sing happy birthday to you, to hang out with you in the bus lot. He came to take your trophy and take your money, and that’s what he does on a fairly consistent basis.
“He’s the new kid on the block and no one seems to like the new kid on the block. Is he aggressive? Yes. Is that okay? It’s okay with me and should be okay with you.
“Remember when drivers started complaining? ‘Oh they raced me too hard! They raced me too hard! They shouldn’t be racing me so hard 50 laps into the race. They shouldn’t be racing me too hard 150 laps in the race.’ That’s what you get paid for. That’s what I got paid for.
“I was not the driver Ross Chastain is. I was not the driver Richard Petty was. I was not the driver any of a lot of these other guys was, but I tell you what, I saw those guys race. I understood how they race. I understood what was in their heart. I couldn’t get there. They got there and Ross Chastain is there. Like it or not, he’s gonna be there.”
Gavel bang!
Speaking of Ross Chastain, Noah Gragson and Denny Hamlin, Hamlin who won the race where Chastain clocked Gragson, had an A+ take on the pit row scuffle this week on Rubbin’ is Racing.