Trackhouse Racing Owner Says Team is in a “Rebuilding Phase”
What’s Happening? Following another trying weekend for Trackhouse Racing, team owner Justin Marks says his team is working through a “rebuilding…
Ross Chastain was upfront and honest about the struggles at Trackhouse Racing during a recent interview, echoing what team owner Justin Marks has already put on the table in saying that the team is in a rebuilding phase.
The 2026 season was billed as a year where Trackhouse Racing would hit the ground running, with rookie Connor Zilisch joining the roster, Shane van Gisbergen set to make hay on road courses while learning the ropes on ovals, and Chastain serving as the team’s backbone.
But nine starts into the season, Trackhouse Racing finds itself in a spot where the expectations have not translated into results. Speaking with Out of the Groove’s Eric Estepp ahead of this weekend’s Talladega race, Chastain addressed the situation head-on.
When asked what the team is lacking, Chastain jokingly said that if he could point to a number of things, such as downforce, horsepower, geometry, springs, shocks, underfloor, or outer body as the root of the problem, he would fix it, and so would everyone else on the team.
Of course, the veteran was alluding to the fact that the truth of the matter is not that simple, saying:
“That’s the great thing about competing at this level is it’s really, really hard, and we’re not the only ones struggling, but we are struggling bad right now, and we know it. We’re trying. In meetings with the smartest people that we have and trying to get out of us drivers what we need better at the racetrack, and so that our different groups in Trackhouse can go to work, and we’re just looking for small improvements.” — Ross Chastain
Chastain also says that he’s not only relying on his team to improve, saying that at Kansas, he also had room to improve, specifically, how he got into the corners.
“I just need to first focus on the entry of the corner in my opinion and get into the corner better, and then we’ll slowly step through it, and at Kansas, I could not get into the corner fast at all,” Chastain said. “I was slow. So, for us, that’s where it starts, where do I first lift off the gas, because that’s where the loss in lap time comes from. We are trying big, big swings and not seeing the results that we want.”
For now, the only statistical bright spot for the team is Shane van Gisbergen, who has started to find his feet on ovals while continuing to deliver on road courses.
Through nine starts this season, SVG has recorded one top-five finish and two top-10 finishes. The top-five result came at COTA, where he finished second behind Tyler Reddick, while the top-10 run came at EchoPark Speedway, where he crossed the line in sixth.
Beyond that, he qualified inside the top five at Martinsville and went on to finish P11, the same result he posted at Phoenix, where he also ended the race in 11th. He currently sits in P18 in the standings, while Chastain and Zilisch follow in 20th and 33rd, respectively.
What’s Happening? Following another trying weekend for Trackhouse Racing, team owner Justin Marks says his team is working through a “rebuilding…
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