Column: Chastain rides the wall into NASCAR's title race

There's been an internal battle raging inside Ross Chastain as he's clawed his way into NASCAR's championship finale.

He's an eighth-generation watermelon farmer from Florida who was never supposed to make it to the top level of stock car racing.

But he did and it required Chastain to bump and bang his way through traffic from journeyman driver to a top Cup team with race-winning cars. He built a solid list of rivals critical of his aggressive style along the way, and as it became clear Chastain might actually have a chance to race for the Cup title, he started to wonder if his rivals were right about him.

Was he making too many mistakes? Trying too hard? Did he need a different approach?