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Kyle Larson Scoffed At Ross Chastain When It Was Suggested They Work Together

Kyle Larson's team suggested he work with Ross Chastain at a recent race, but the NASCAR Cup Series champion was not interested in the idea.

By Tyler McCarthy
Split image of Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain

Kyle Larson took a subtle dig at fellow NASCAR driver and “Race For The Championship” star Ross Chastain over the weekend when he refused a suggestion to work with him against the other drivers on the track. 

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During a race at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, Chastain was ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series champion, but not by much. According to SportsCasting, Larson’s spotter noted that the real duel was between the duo, who drive Chevrolets, and all the other racers on the track in Toyotas. That’s when the spotter got on the radio to pitch the idea of working together with Chastain just before the halfway point of Stage 2. 

“If you and Ross can work together here, try to pull away,” the spotter said (via Sportskeeda).

Larson reportedly scoffed at the idea immediately. 

“Ha, Ross doesn’t work together with anybody,” he said from behind the wheel. “Funny.” 

The two drivers never teamed up. Instead, Larson was able to pull ahead and finish in 7th place while Chastain found himself all the way back in 24th. Meanwhile, Larson’s finish positions him as the top Chevrolet racer on the track that day, with Fords and Toyotas dominating most of the rest of the top 10.

Larson is not the first driver to throw a little bit of shade at Chastain’s aggressive driving on the track. Following a wreck at the Atlanta Motor Speedway last month, “Life In The Fast Lane” star Austin Dillon had some choice words for the driver as well. 

“Unfortunately we got our car better right there and it looks like we were just a casualty of Ross Chastain once again,” Dillon said at the time

“We’ve got to keep on keeping on, working each week to get better to hit victory lane,” Dillon continued. “I told myself we were going to race hard all day. It wasn’t one of those things where I want to ride in the back and be there at the end, but when you’ve got guys like him out there wrecking half the field, you might as well actually take a different strategy sometimes.” 

"Race for the Championship" premieres on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network. You can catch more NASCAR content on Peacock right now.