DARLINGTON, S.C. – It wasn’t surprising to most to see Ross Chastain shoot his No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro to the top of the speed charts during the first NASCAR Xfinity Series practice at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway – but to Chastain, he was a little surprised.
Announced last week, Chastain, a native of Alva, Fla. will compete in three Xfinity Series races for Chip Ganassi Racing and sponsor DC Solar and many expect Chastain to capitalize on the chance to race in the best equipment he’s ever raced with.
Some even think the 25-year-old can win.
Whether the win comes or not remains to be seen – but after seeing his name sit atop of the practice rundown for much of the first session, Chastain is just as hopeful.
“It went good, right off the bat,” Chastain told CATCHFENCE.com Friday night. “Right off the bat we waited a little bit – but the car had speed right away. My first lap wasn’t real good, but the second lap the guys said we ran a .20 and said we were p-5 and the next lap they said I ran a .00 and we were at the top.
“That was a cool feeling.”
Chastain ended up second in the session to Christopher Bell – but while the avid racer expected to fast, he didn’t expect (to be) that fast.
“I didn’t expect to be fastest for that long,” Chastain added. “I’ve never done it. I mean, Bell went right there at the end – but to have that much speed and know the car could be that much better handling wise is promising to me.”
In final Xfinity Series practice roughly an hour later, Chastain couldn’t carry the speed in the first session, but he took responsibility for that.
“I offered the guys some changes that I thought would make the car better. It didn’t work. They didn’t get mad though. They showed me the data, we talked about it and we started working on a plan to get the speed back in our No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet.
“That’s something I haven’t had experience much. Everyone’s real supportive and encouraging. I’m used to making changes and the car getting better. But this time it’s different.”
“We were fighting the car a little bit, couldn’t free-roll through the corner like I wanted. We were just too tight.”
With guidance from his Chip Ganassi Racing team, Chastain quickly got back on track and propelled his No. 42 Chevrolet back into the top-10, ending up seventh quickest overall ahead of qualifying and Saturday afternoon’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200.
“After practice, we were able to look back and see where we went wrong. It wasn’t ideal. But, hopefully, we got it right.”
Sitting on the cutline for the Xfinity Series Playoffs, Chastain knows that a win would easily propel him into a safe spot – but the Floridan is focused on making the most of the three-race opportunity and hopefully finding himself in a position to capitalize when it matters most.
“Man, we just want to run top-five all day long,” Chastain said. “Minimize the mistakes for sure. I’ve never ran a perfect race. No driver has. But I just have to go out there and do my job. It’s good equipment with good, smart people and I just want to make them all proud.”
Chastain mentioned he’ll use some of the same fundamentals he does with his normal team, JD Motorsports.
“I can only do what I can get the car to do,” sounded Chastain. “For Darlington, my pressure is being confident in Turns 3 and 4. I want to be able to run higher up near the wall. I still have some improvement to do on that.
“Actually, I’ve never been in a position to do that before. I just have to watch and learn what the other guys do in qualifying and see if I can do that during the race. Hopefully, it all works out.
“I want to do well for DC Solar. They have given me this opportunity and I’m so appreciative. They flew all night to get here to watch me race. I hope they have a good time. I want to make them proud.
“If we come out of Darlington with a top-five, it’s important to remember, that’s still a good day.”
Chastain’s Chip Ganassi Racing Kyle Larson didn’t mince words when he spoke about Chastain’s potential.
“Ross has overachieved in kind of everything he’s been in that I have paid attention to since I’ve made it to NASCAR,” Larson said Friday afternoon at Darlington. “For the Carpoff’s (DC Solar) to give him an opportunity in a great piece of equipment is really cool. I think he’s going to do an amazing job.
“Like I said, he overachieves in the stuff that he’s in now in both Xfinity and Cup. He’s got some good race tracks that he gets to run as well. I think he will run up front and could even win.”
Following Darlington, Chastain will return to his JD Motorsports with Gary Keller ride next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before returning to CGR at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 15 and bookend his opportunity in the first race of the Playoffs at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Sept. 21.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
