It doesn’t matter the series, track, or team he is driving for, Ross Chastain has continued to deliver across all divisions of NASCAR this season, a trend that continued with a victory in Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Charlotte.
The NASCAR Cup Series driver was able to capitalize on the misfortunate of others – including his teammate at Niece Motorsports — to put himself in a position to notch a fourth victory in the NASCAR Truck Series.
He was by no means the dominant truck though, with that honor belonging to his teammate Carson Hocevar, who led a race-high 57 laps before being involved in an accident while racing for the lead in NASCAR Overtime.
While the victory did happen to remain within Niece Motorsports’ walls, the Alva, Florida-native couldn’t help but feel for Hocevar, who has come very close to capturing his maiden NASCAR victory in recent weeks, including back-to-back runner-up results.
“I hate it so much for Carson, I didn’t give him the push he needed to win,” Chastain said following the win. “Man, I’m so proud of Carson Hocevar. I’ll say it over and over. That guy’s a future star. He’s such a goofy kid, but I love him. He learns so quick.”
While Chastain inherited the lead through a gift – Hocevar and Preece being involved in an accident — the final instance of NASCAR Overtime was still hard work for the 29-year-old, having to hold back a multitude of hungry drivers in the final two laps.
Grant Enfinger would ultimately come home in second place, with John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, and Zane Smith rounding out the top five.
Tanner Gray earned another solid result in sixth place, while on an opposite note, Kyle Busch had a horrible run – by his standards — finishing in seventh. Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top-10.
After being involved in the final caution of the evening, Ryan Preece would finish 11th, while Carson Hocevar would come home a devastating 16th.
Exiting Charlotte, the regular-season championship continues to be heavily contested with the top-seven drivers in points only separated by 40 points.
Nemechek leads by seven points over Ben Rhodes, with Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, and Christian Eckes all involved in the battle. As for the NCWTS Playoff bubble, Matt Crafton holds steady at 25 points above Tanner Gray.
