By John Breeden

Copyright sportskeeda

Despite a lackluster start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Ross Chastain stayed alive and advanced to the Round of 12. The driver of the #1 entered Bristol 19 points above the cut line, and advanced after a 19th-place finish on Saturday night.It was a shaky start to the playoffs, but the Florida native is confident in his ability to turn his fortunes around in the Round of 12. The 32-year-old spoke to motorsports insider Bob Pockrass about his chances of advancing through the next round. With New Hampshire, Kansas, and the Charlotte Roval coming up, the Trackhouse Racing star feels good about his chances to move on to the Round of 8. Here’s what Chastain told Pockrass following Bristol:”I feel really good about all three of them. New Hampshire and Kansas, for sure, just on the 1 car specifically. With Shane [Van Gisbergen] at the Roval, just learning from him and continuing to absorb that. A lot of opportunity to go win. Not survive, we want to win, but at the end of the day, you have to survive.” (0:36 onwards)Ross Chastain did enough to survive the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The six-time Cup Series winner finished 11th at Darlington, 24th at World Wide Technology Raceway, and 19th at Bristol. He is the sole Trackhouse Racing driver left in the playoffs.Chastain clinched his spot in the playoffs with a win in the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. It’s a bounce back year for Chastain as he failed to make the playoffs last season.Trackhouse Racing posted about Ross Chastain advancing in NASCAR playoffs to the Round of 12The quest to capture Trackhouse Racing’s first NASCAR Cup Series championship is still alive for Ross Chastain. The driver of the #1 strung along two top-20 finishes in the opening playoff round and did enough to advance past the Round of 16.Chastain’s team, Trackhouse Racing, took to social media following Saturday night’s cutoff race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Trackhouse’s social media team made an ecstatic post about their driver advancing in the playoffs. Here’s what they wrote via Instagram:“HE’S MOVING ON‼️ Ross is locked into the Round 12!!! 🔒” View this post on Instagram Instagram PostRoss Chastain is amid his fourth full-time season behind the wheel of the #1 machine. He joined the team ahead of the 2022 season after spending a year at Chip Ganassi Racing, where he piloted the #42 car.Chastain has totaled six career Cup victories and finished a best of second in the points standings in 2022. The 2022 season saw Chastain advance to the Championship 4 race after the “Hail Melon” pass on the final lap of the Martinsville playoff race.