Ross Chastain Has Gained Consistency, but Probably Not Fast Enough to Win at Gateway
6 months agoRoss Chastain qualified 16th for this weekend's Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway. While Chastain has neither led a lap at the track nor finished better than 8th, he did win a Craftsman Truck Series race here in 2019 and the track's egg shape greatly resembles Darlington Raceway, where he has usually done well. Chastain has had an odd season, as he has mostly avoided getting into many incidents, giving him his career-best average finish to date. However, he has also been a consistent nonfactor in many races, reliably finishing between 11th and 15th in most events despite still making frequent passes for the lead in the earlier stages of races before late-race fades. It seems that Chastain is overachieving in mediocre cars to some extent but not enough to factor for wins. Expect more of the same at Gateway, where the top Chevrolet teams usually struggle.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference