Chastain became an instant Cup Series cult hero when he deliberately drove his car flat-out into the Martinsville wall at the final turns, to ‘video game’ his way to the transfer spot that he required to challenge for the title at Phoenix this Sunday.
His wall-riding exploit has since gone viral on social media, as well as being played on news shows around the world.
Marks, who founded Trackhouse ahead of the 2021 season along with Grammy Award-winning rapper Pitbull, says Chastain’s move epitomised the spirit of his team, and believes it will drive them to greater heights.
“Ross is just kind of built different,” said Marks. “I’ve seen that ever since I met him 10 or 11 years ago.
“I think somebody with that type of psychology, that sort of do-whatever-it-takes and he’s got so much want – he just wants it so badly – is going to be a tremendous asset for Trackhouse for many, many years to come.
“The optics of the commitment that he made is an example of what I’ve been preaching to this company all year long – let’s think out of the box, let’s do things different, let’s fully commit and fully send in whatever it is that we do at this company.
“I think we empower him. We support him. We lift him up. We say he’s got 152 people here that have your back, and we’re working hard for you, and when he goes out and does stuff like that, it’s just proof that he’ll do anything for us.”
Ross Chastain, TrackHouse Racing, Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro launches his car into the wall to speed around Turn 4 to pass Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, FedEx Freight Direct Toyota Camry
Photo by: Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images
Since Sunday’s events, Marks received messages from around the globe as motorsport notables – including F1 stars Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly – reacting to Chastain’s banzai move.
“As race car drivers, we’re always looking for these opportunities,” added Marks. “We’re always looking for these loopholes or these special things. We all grew up doing this move in video games, but nobody ever thought something like this was possible in the real world.
“So when you see it happen, with every race car driver in the world, it’s just like ‘oh my God’ somebody actually tried to do it and actually made it work.
“I don’t think that you can look at that and just not think it’s just one of the most insane cool things that you’ve ever seen.”
Marks says the future of the #1 Chevrolet Camaro that Chastain drove at Martinsville on Sunday is yet to be decided. NASCAR’s Hall of Fame has already called to ask about its availability as an exhibit, but it currently sits in the lobby at Trackhouse’s race shop in North Carolina.
“Right now, we have it sitting right in front of the lobby,” said Marks. “We’ve had a steady stream of fans coming through all day, yesterday and today, all taking photographs.
“I think it’s such an important moment in the history of our sport that it would be great to find a way for a lot of people to enjoy it for as long as possible. So, if we set that thing in the Hall of Fame for a while, then that’s what we’ll do.”