Steve Letarte Jumps To Ross Chastain’s Defense After Move Leaves Denny Hamlin Fuming

Former NASCAR crew chief turned commentator Steve Letarte has jumped to Ross Chastain’s defense after he successfully pulled off a blocking move on Denny Hamlin at Talladega.

While Hamlin branded it “bulls**t racing,” Letarte argued that it was “what you should do.”

“I don’t have a problem with what Chastain is doing here, actually.

“That’s exactly what you should do. That’s the defensive move; nobody wrecked. I’m sure Denny’s not happy with him, but I’m sure Denny would have done the same thing if he was in Ross’ spot. So, I’m okay with it, but that, I think, is what derailed the Toyota strategy.”

Hamlin took the opportunity to discuss the moment during his podcast, Actions Detrimental. He explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:

“But I believe the roles reversed, he would have, he would probably just run into me. I would think he would run into me as he should and say, ‘I didn’t make you swerve. I was running my lane with the pack of cars that was on the race track. You tried to merge up into a lane that wasn’t there.’

NASCAR Cup Series driver, Ross Chastain, speaks to US Air Force services members prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“So, I just think it’s bulls**t racing and I think that um, I guess you got to just hold it down and if you cause a wreck, hopefully, you spin them out and don’t wreck yourself.

“That’ll be hard to do, but at some point, I’ve got caught in wrecks and finished so horribly lately on these superspeedways, it’s like, what do I care? At this point, just cram it in there and say, ‘Sorry, it was your fault, not mine.'”

After the two disqualifications of Joey Logano and Ryan Preece were taken into account, Chastain and Hamlin finished the Jack Link’s 500 in 20th and 21st, respectively.