FONTANA, Calif. – He was no underdog in Saturday’s Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway.
Ross Chastain, the flagship driver for JD Motorsports with Gary Keller in the NASCAR Xfinity Series capitalized on a strong day in Southern California earning his second top-10 finish of the season.
The West Coast Swing brought strong qualifying efforts from the Alva, Florida native at Las Vegas and Phoenix. The trend continued Saturday morning in Fontana when Chastain qualified his No. 4 Daley Technology Systems Chevrolet 13th.
From the drop of the green flag, Chastain held his own.
Racing against some of the bigger funded teams including Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports, Chastain scored two stage points when he finished ninth at the completion of Stage 1.
Adjusting to the changing track conditions and his race car, Chastain fell outside of the top-10 at the end of Stage 2, but crew chief Gary Cogswell adjusted his car for the final stage allowing the Floridian to capitalize during the final run and climb back inside the top-10, holding off GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher in the process.
“Our No. 4 Daley Technology Systems Chevrolet ran very well today,” Chastain told CATCHFENCE.com. “Today, we were mechanically balanced – the best we’ve ever been and that showed over the long runs.”
With a two week break on deck, Chastain will head to Texas Motor Speedway on Apr. 7, where he sits 13th in the championship standings after five races.
Chastain opened the season with a ninth-place showing at Daytona International Speedway. Saturday’s performance at Auto Club delivered the 25-year old’s eighth career top-10 in five years of competition.
Chastain will look to bookend the weekend with a solid run in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 driving for Premium Motorsports in his sixth career Cup start and fourth of 2018.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
