GAFFNEY, S.C. – Last weekend was a very busy – but quite enjoyable – one for NASCAR driver Ross Chastain.
Chastain drove in all three races at Dover International Speedway, competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series events on the Monster Mile.
Sunday’s Cup race marked his debut in that series.
Chastain finished 15th in the Truck race, 21st in Xfinity and 20th in Cup. He was running higher in all three series during the races.
“I had a blast,” said Chastain, whose regular ride is with the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller Xfinity Series team. “Jumping from one car to another and then to the truck and getting to work with all three teams was great. It helped me as a driver put together one of the best weekends I’ve had.
“We were able to minimize mistakes and do good for everybody, and that’s hard thing to do across a weekend of three races.”
Chastain drove with sponsorship from the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and its Protect Your Melon Buckle Up DE campaign in all three races.
Chastain, driving for Bolen Motorsports, qualified ninth for Friday’s Truck race. He raced with the lead group much of the race despite having battery issues.
“We had a really fast truck, but an alternator wire broke after about 20 laps,” Chastain said. “I turned everything off in the truck and tried to run as hard as I could to make it to the end. But we had to come in and change the battery and lost two laps. We were still able to run with the fast trucks.”
Chastain was chasing a top-10 run in the Xfinity race Saturday until a corded tire sent him to the pits with four laps to go.
“The guys had gotten the car balance-wise so that I could really hustle it,” he said. “I could see that the guys in front of me were struggling, so I pushed hard and went up there and passed them. I probably should have taken it a little easier on the tires, but I pushed as hard as I could the whole run.”
Chastain drove for Premium Motorsports in the Cup race. He qualified 36th but pushed through the field quickly.
“I didn’t really know what to expect with the Cup car, so I had my expectations set very realistically,” he said. “But it all worked out. I was happy once the race got rolling. To be that competitive right off the bat was really cool.
“There’s not a single bad team in Cup, so to be able to legitimately pass cars on the track was great.
“We’re really on a high spot right now. Hopefully, we can capitalize on it in the Xfinity program and keep building the program there in Gaffney.”
Chastain’s next race will be Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 Xfinity race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania.