Ross Chastain makes his way out of Turn 4 during the first All-Star heat race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. (Photo: Matt Marrie | The Podium Finish)
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — After being involved in a crash in the middle of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Ross Chastain rose above all the odds and raced his way back into contention for one million dollars, all to end up finishing 3rd.
Chastain qualified 3rd for the main event, putting his No. 1 Busch Light Fan Vote Chevrolet in a good position to go for the win. Throughout the beginning half of the race, Chastain kept himself inside the top 10, all the way up until Lap 113, when the driver out of Alva, Florida, became the center of the chaos.
Coming out of Turn 2, Chastain made contact with Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Penske Ford Mustang, and Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet. The impact sent both the No.1 and No. 2 sliding down the backstretch, with Cindric driving into the pits, resulting in Chastain barely avoiding the barrels at the beginning of Turn 3. As a result, he went to the rear of the field, and his No. 1 team had their work cut out for them if they wanted to have a shot at going to victory lane.
Chastain slowly started to cut through the competition, moving up to 14th place, when a caution was brought out for Brad Keselowski hitting the wall in Turns 3 and 4. The field took the green once again on Lap 182, with the driver of the No. 1 moving up to 11th place before the optional promoter’s caution was thrown with 35 laps to go.
The No. 1 crew knew they had to take a gamble to have a shot at the one-million-dollar check, so Phil Surgen, crew chief of the No. 1 Trackhouse team, had the five-time Cup Series winner stay out on that caution, moving them into 3rd place for what would be the final restart of the race.
As field took the green one last time, Chastain looked like he had a good pace with cars ahead of him, staying in the top five, going as high as 2nd to then race leader Joey Logano. The only problem for Chastain and Logano was that Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Toyota Camry, was right on their trail with four fresh tires.
Ross Chastain (No.1) battles with Christopher Bell (No.20) and Joey Logano (No.22) for the All-Star race win at North Wilkesboro Speedway. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)
Chastain lost his ground on Bell only four laps into the final run, and Bell eventually worked his way around Logano, and the No. 20 cruised to a one-million-dollar payday without any interference at all.
Chastain was able to hold off a hard-charging Bowman for a 3rd place finishing position. His No. 1 Trackhouse team came just short of victory, but Chastain was just happy to be in the mix at the end. “I am so thankful to have a shot. We were spun out backwards.” Chastain could not even tell if his car was going to have a chance at making it back out on the racetrack. “I was watching a tow truck drive up to me, trying to get it started, not even knowing if the car was going to roll and the wheel was off, so it hit something on the left side”.
Chastain and his No. 1 Trackhouse team will hit the track again next weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as they will look to find more of the resilience and effort they found yesterday evening.
