1 week agoRoss Chastain finished second here at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2022, but other than that, his track record leaves much to be desired. In his five other starts at the 1.5-mile track, the "Melon Man" has four results of 31st or worse along with a 17th-place finish in 2021. So, the question now becomes, is his record at Homestead due to bad luck, or was that runner-up finish in 2022 a fluke? Fresh off of a top-five finish at Las Vegas last weekend, Chastain will look to keep the momentum rolling in this weekend's Straight Talk Wireless 400. The No. 1 Chevrolet will start back in 25th on Sunday, but Chastain looked faster than that in practice, ending up 15th-fastest in the session in single-lap speed. As far as playability in DraftKings, you need to have some Chastain exposure due to his Place Differential upside, but at a $9,000 salary, there are some better DFS options to roll the dice with this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 weeks agoTrackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain continued to show why Las Vegas is one of his better tracks by finishing fifth during Sunday's race. Starting from the 19th position, Chastain spent awhile figuring out how to navigate to the front and during the first stage, Chastain did not get very far as he placed 17th by the end of the stage. Chastain and his No. 1 Chevrolet team did take steps to use pit strategy by taking two tires to make it to the front, as he finally made it to the lead toward the end of stage two. He failed to win the stage as in the closing laps of the second stage, Kyle Larson and William Byron both passed Chastain, relegating him to third. In the final stage, Chastain would continuously run in the top five other than when he went to pit road for four tires late in the race. The tires gave Chastain extra grip to drive back to the front, making it as high as third before engaging in an intense battle with Byron for positon. The two Chevrolet drivers roughed each other up to the point where Chastain's car would never be fast enough to attempt to catch the leaders again and placed fifth by the end of the race. This was Chastain's fifth top-5 finish at Las Vegas, which is now his most at any single NASCAR track.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoRoss Chastain fired out of the gates fast at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, as the No. 1 Chevrolet was the fastest car in practice on Saturday afternoon. Chastain's lap (187.846 mph) was faster by over two-tenths of a second than the second-fastest driver, Bubba Wallace. And really, it shouldn't be that surprising. Statistically, Chastain has been one of the best at Las Vegas in the Next Gen era, with an average finish of 5.5 over the last six races. Over that span, the Melon Man has just one result worse than seventh at Las Vegas, and that was a 12th-place effort in 2023. There's no doubt that the No. 1 Chevrolet is fast this weekend, and Chastain makes a good DFS pick because of that. He also has Place Differential upside, as he qualified back in 19th for Sunday's race. At a palatable $8,300 on DraftKings, Chastain is a solid DFS pick this weekend with high upside.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
3 weeks agoRoss Chastain was a bit down on the speed chart in qualifying on Saturday for this weekend's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway, as the No. 1 Chevrolet will roll off the grid from 24th when the race goes green on Sunday. However, don't expect Chastain to ride around mid-pack all day. In terms of practice speeds, Ross looked solid during the pre-qualifying session, ranking inside the top 10 in 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-lap average. As far as track history goes, Chastain has been one of the strongest at Phoenix in the Next Gen era, with four results of sixth or better in the six races, including a win in the fall 2023 race. He wound up finishing sixth in the spring race last season after starting 12th. At $8,800 on DraftKings this weekend, Chastain carries a relatively hefty price tag, but the Place Differential upside makes him a viable DFS option on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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