CONCORD, N.C. – Ross Chastain takes on a totally new challenge this weekend as he shoots for a spot in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
Chastain will drive the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller No. 4 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 200, which will be the first race on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s new “roval,” which combines the CMS oval with portions of the infield road course.
“The road course at Charlotte is a new challenge for the entire sport, and no matter how it ends up for our No. 4 car I’ll enjoy the challenge of it,” Chastain said. “It definitely took some brave men and women at NASCAR to put this idea into motion. Our goal is the obvious goal everyone has -- to finish. Rolling the car back in the hauler at the end of the day will be a huge success.”
Chastain sits fourth in the playoff standings and has an 18-point edge over ninth-place Cole Custer, who sits in the first spot outside the Round of 8 cutoff. Chastain finished second to Christopher Bell last week at Richmond Raceway.
Chastain has led a career-high 272 laps this year and has completed 97.7 percent of the scheduled laps. He can clinch a spot in the Round of 8 on points this weekend with some help, and also could with a win.
Practice, which will be particularly important this week, is scheduled at 1:05 and 3:05 p.m. Friday. Qualifying is set for 12:10 p.m. Saturday, with the race to follow at 3 p.m.