Ross Chastain’s car may have been almost as tough for him to tame as the track on Sunday night at Darlington. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Ross Chastain secured a fifth place finish on Sunday night during the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
The weekend started out less than ideal, with Chastain qualifying 27th in the No. 1 car with a lap time of 29.337, 0.272 seconds slower than pole position winner Christopher Bell.
After the drop of the green flag, however, things started to slowly improve for Chastain and the No. team as they began figuring out what it would take to tame the “Lady in Black.”
By the end of Stage 1, the Alva, Florida native had started to gain track position and worked his way up to a 24th place stage finish. By the end of Stage 2, Chastain had fought his way up to 16th. Throughout the final stage, Chastain notably was able to make up even more position amid several late race cautions and drive up to fifth.
A top five finish was an uphill battle in many respects according to Chastain throughout the weekend. After the race, he spoke about some of the specific difficulties they encountered specifically to get his car dialed in for the race.
“It was a heck of a battle for the No. 1 Unishippers Chevy team,” Chastain said. “We needed 1,000 miles to get all the way to the lead.
“We just weren’t fast. All weekend, I haven’t felt like our balance was super far off, but it just didn’t translate to speed. I’ll take a top-five finish, for sure, a ride home happy.”
Ross Chastain at driver introductions before the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
The 30-year-old also spoke after the race about what Darlington, and racing at the historic track in general, mean to him and what he likes most about the race weekend.
“I think that we can all drive down here and be back home tonight in our own beds is nice,” he said. “And just the history of the race – this was the 74th running of this race. It’s just always put on a good show. You watch the old races – they raced around the bottom and as they all got faster over the decades and they swapped the grandstands and all that, it’s absolutely incredible, for me, just to be here.
“I’d be here as a fan. I’d be right up there in Turn 1, probably with a little bit bigger headache in the morning if I was just a fan. It was a heck of a fight tonight.”
Notably, this week was also the start of Chastain’s second playoff appearance of his career. Leaving Darlington, Chastain sits in the 10th position in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, 13 points above the cut line heading to Kansas Speedway.
