Ross Chastain finished fourth in the HyVee Perks 250 Saturday afternoon as he looks to build confidence as the Cup Series regular season starts to draw to a close.
The race marked Chastain’s 10th and final O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of 2026, a series in which he’s found success throughout 2026 with an average finish of 10.6, including a win at Charlotte in May.
Chastain led laps for a large chunk of the back end of the race, looking poised to come away with a win until a caution with five laps to go triggered a pair of restarts, causing him to drop down to fourth.
This success is unlike his luck inside the No. 1 car in the Cup Series, where he’s in the midst of one of the worst Cup seasons of his career. Chastain is currently averaging a finish of 19.9 this year, his worst mark since joining the team back in 2022.
He expressed his frustration during an interview this week with SiriusXM, stressing a need for speed.
“I just want to go a little bit faster,” Chastain said on Thursday. “I’m being honest, I don’t care about the points because we’re just not fast enough. If we’re not faster, none of this matters.”
With just four races left until the Chase, the ‘Melon Man’ will need to pull out some magic if he wants to get back into the mix. He currently sits 82 points below the cut line and needs to turn things around with haste after finishes of 27th at North Wilkesboro and 23rd at Indianapolis.
The win/good finish on Saturday could be just the boost of confidence the season driver needs to try and salvage his terrible season; however, a lot of his issues this year have been the result of the cars that Trackhouse has given him.
Still, Chastain seems committed to getting faster and doesn’t appear concerned with the Chase standings at all.
“I want to go fast, that’s the whole reason I do this,” he said. “We want more speed, and that’s what Trackhouse and I are only focused on. Not the points. It matters, but it doesn’t matter. We’re not going to get there unless we go faster.”
Chastain will roll off ninth on Sunday for the Iowa Corn 350 with the sun setting on his Chase hopes.
