Ross Chastain’s Daytona Disaster: How a Chain Reaction Wreck Took Out His 

Ross Chastain is never far from the action. Whether it’s making bold, controversial moves at the front of the pack or getting caught up in a multi-car melee, the Trackhouse Racing driver always seems to be at the center of NASCAR’s biggest moments.

But this time, it wasn’t for one of his signature aggressive moves. Instead, Chastain found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time—and ended up wiping out his own teammate in Trackhouse Racing’s most ambitious project to date.

Trackhouse’s High-Stakes Gamble Ends in a Mangled Mess

Trackhouse Racing entered the 2025 Daytona 500 with a bold plan. They weren’t just bringing their usual two-car lineup—they were making a statement. Their Project 91 entry was giving four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castronevesthe ultimate shot at stock car glory.

The Lap 71 Wreck: How Ross Chastain Became the Villain in Trackhouse’s Own Story

The 2025 Daytona 500 was shaping up to be an all-time classic—rain delays, a Presidential visit, and a hungry field of drivers with nothing to lose.

And then, on Lap 71, chaos struck.

Joey Logano, fresh off a Stage 1 victory, felt something go wrong in his car. As the field bunched up for the restart, what followed was a classic superspeedway accordion effect.

And just like that, Trackhouse Racing’s highly anticipated Project 91 car was out—taken out by their own full-time driver.

“Everybody started stopping, and Truex came in really hard and hit me,” Castroneves said after the race. “But the real issue was when someone from the bottom hit me from the side. It broke the axle, and that was it.”

For Chastain, the crash was brutal—not just because his own race was over, but because he knew he had just ended Trackhouse’s biggest storyline of the week.

“It sucks,” Chastain admitted. “This race means so much, and to take a teammate out with me on the way… it hurts even more because it’s the Project 91 car. That was a big effort for the shop, not for me. They do all the work. I hate that.”

For a driver who has spent his entire Cup Series career fighting accusations of reckless racing, this was a different kind of gut punch.

“I made some bad moves trying to get to the middle and top lane, and it slowly worked me back there,” Chastain said. “When the accordion came, I paid the price.”

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Daytona’s Unforgiving Nature Strikes Again

This wasn’t just a wreck. It was a defining moment in the Daytona 500—a race that so often plays with drivers’ emotions, builds up dreams, and then shatters them in an instant.

For Ross Chastain, it was another brutal lesson in the high-risk nature of superspeedway racing.

For Helio Castroneves, it was a heartbreaking end to a highly anticipated experiment.

For Trackhouse Racing, it was proof that even the best-laid plans can come undone at The World Center of Racing.

And for NASCAR fans? It was just another chapter in the unpredictable, unforgiving, and utterly chaotic Daytona 500.