Ross Chastain recovers from penalties to finish fourth

LAS VEGAS — Ross Chastain came to Las Vegas with one of the fastest cars in the field but finished fourth in the Pennzoil 400. 

No problem, however, as he had to battle through a lot to get there.

Chastain qualified in 20th. However, he had to go to the rear after his team rewrapped the hood since ti was coming up and blocking his vision.

Chastain recovered very quickly. He grabbed stage points in the first stage, placing eighth. 

The momentum quickly dissipated. Officials nabbed for speeding on pit road during the green flag pit cycle in stage two. 

“I can’t believe I sped on pit road all three weeks,” Chastain said. “That took us out of contention. We were strong enough to fight with the 5 and the 45. I took us out of that. I cannot believe I did that.” 

When asked how he can alleviate the pit road miscues, Chastain put it bluntly. 

“Slow down,” Chastain said. 

Chastain put his No. 1 car back into contention in stage three. During a late-race caution, his crew put on two tires, putting him in the lead.

On the restart, he battled hard with Kyle Larson for the lead. Eventually, Larson’s four new tires overpowered him. 

“That was everything,” Chastain said. “Our car was good enough with clean air to fight with those guys. It didn’t matter how many tires, I wanted clean air.” 

Chastain finished 21st in the Daytona 500. He finished seventh at Atlanta to go along with his fourth place finish in Las Vegas. 

“The handling of the car is incredible,” Chastain said. “It’s everything I want and dream about and wake up and train for is to drive cars like this. That’s what makes it hurt so much worse.” 

Chastain now turns his attention to Phoenix, the site of his last Cup Series victory. The Shriners Children’s 500 is slated to green next Sunday at 3:30 P.M. EST.