Chastain admitted he hadn’t seen a replay of the crash when he spoke to the press, but was willing to take responsibility for his part in the melee.

“I was just trying to race. If I made a mistake, that’s on me,” Chastain noted. “Being the leader there, I felt like I was just trying to defend the position. We’d given each other room all day. It’s just an unfortunate way to end it right there because I wanted to make DC Solar proud. They gave me this opportunity and I’m really thankful for that.”

Meanwhile, Harvick was quick to offer his take on the crash after being released from the infield care center, pinning the blame on Chastain’s lack of experience in a front-running situation.

“I tried to stay as low as I could and he just rode on my door. That’s just a really inexperienced racer and a really bad move there,” said Harvick, who parked in Chastain’s pit stall before heading to the garage.

“He got the air (moving), got on beside me and just kept going up the race track. I couldn’t do anything with the wheel.  You’ve got a really inexperienced guy in a really fast car that made a really bad move, and then he wrecked me down the back straightaway and hooked me to the right.

“That’s probably the reason that he’ll never get to drive many of them (fast cars) again.”

Chastain didn’t admit to intentionally spinning Harvick after their initial contact and run up into the wall, but he did have a deadpan response when asked about that portion of the accident.

“Once we hit the wall, I was out of control,” said Chastain.

Regardless of the race-altering crash, Chastain – who regularly drives for JD Motorsports and has been with team owner Johnny Davis full-time since 2015 – argued that he didn’t feel worthy of the three-race shot he’s been presented with at Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I don’t think I did enough to get this opportunity,” noted Chastain. “Nobody deserves this. … More people win the lottery than get this opportunity.”

Eventual race winner Brad Keselowski, who battled with Chastain at the start of the final stage and inherited the lead after Chastain and Harvick crashed, disagreed with that assessment.

Keselowski carried additional perspective from the fact that Chastain drove for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team on a part-time basis in 2013.

“I don’t know how you could not like seeing the guy go fast,” noted Keselowski. “It’s one of the backbones of the sport, is just being able to go fast. Ross did that today.

“He can go fast and that’s a big part. The rest, you hope, comes with it … and I can appreciate his work ethic to make the most out of his opportunities. He’s done that for a long time.”

Chastain will return to JD Motorsports next week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but has two more guaranteed shots in Chip Ganassi Racing equipment at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway later in the month.

He wasn’t focused on that Saturday evening, however. Chastain was simply living in the moment.

“If it all ended today and I had to go back to the farm, I would have no regrets,” admitted Chastain. “I just really hope people smile at the fact there was somebody different up there racing with those guys.

“Smile about that, if nothing else.”