Ross Chastain has a knack for Circuit of The Americas, apparently. After winning last season’s NASCAR Cup Series event, the Trackhouse Racing driver secured the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.
Chastain, driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports, posted a time of 133.612 seconds (91.877mph) to score the first-place starting spot, ahead of two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who will start from second.
Busch, making his second of five scheduled NASCAR Truck Series starts, posting a time a half-second slower than Chastain, after blowing the field out of the water in the series’ 20-minute practice session.
Ty Majeski will start Saturday’s event from third, while Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes – the top-two finishers from last weekend’s event at Atlanta – will start from fourth and fifth.
Carson Hocevar will start the event from the sixth spot, with Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, and TRICON Garage teammates Tanner Gray and Kaz Grala completing the top-10 starters.
Among notable drivers starting outside the top-10 include, Corey Heim (11th), Ben Rhodes (13th), Stewart Friesen (15th), Hailie Deegan (16th), Parker Kligerman (17th), Taylor Gray (19th), Rajah Caruth (20th), Chase Purdy (21st), and Matt Crafton (34th).
Mason Filippi, driving for Reaume Brothers Racing, was looking like he’d fail to qualify for the event, until a last-second attempt put him into 30th and in the show, but knocked his teammate Mason Massey out of the race.
Samuel Lecomte, Alex Bowman, and Mason Massey were the three drivers who failed to qualify for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Circuit of The Americas.
Bowman, driving for the same organization he nearly won the event with last year, had a flat tire on his qualifying run, and had to limp his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado back around the 3.41-mile road course to pit road.
