It was a busy Speedweeks for the Alva, Fla. native. Juggling the Truck Series for Niece Motorsports, Chastain ran the first of three races for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series and continued his alliance with Jay Robinson’s Cup program for his first start in the “Great American Race.”
Knowing he wanted to be around for the finish, Chastain stuck to his plan. Out of sight, out of mind during Stage 1 and Stage 2 worked to perfection. Methodically sticking to his plan during Stage 3, Chastain avoided three-late race crashes to find himself tucked in 11th for the final restart. Over the final two laps, Chastain cleared one spot and hung on to earn his first career top-10 finish in Cup competition.
“Just riding around” Chastain told reporters. “Jay Robinson working together, having a plan coming in that’s why he kept me in the car and didn’t put other people in I think because he knew we could work together and know when to go right at the end and try to get 10th that’s a big deal for us.”
On Friday night, Chastain finished third for Niece Motorsports and claimed 13th in a rather dull Xfinity Series race after winning Stage 2.
“It’s luck for sure, definitely luck,” Chastain said. “I said it this morning, we’re going to use all our luck up this weekend and I might come back here for five years and crash. You just take it when you can get it and luckily, I had a plan in the Truck race knowing they were going to crash and, in the Xfinity race, we got lucky because we went and raced, and nobody did crash so good thing we did race.”
His first career top-10 finish in 39 career Cup starts is somewhat satisfying for Chastain who saw his world turn upside down during the offseason when a promising Xfinity Series program with Chip Ganassi Racing fell apart in December when sponsor DC Solar was raided by federal authorities and recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Chastain will still compete for the Xfinity Series title but will spend a majority of the year in Johnny Davis’ No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro. His Truck Series opportunity with Niece Motorsports will continue through Atlanta but he is sharing the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado seat with newcomer Reid Wilson.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
