Ross Chastain Vegas post race report

Ross Chastain (@RossChastain), driver of the No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150, made his 10th start for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) and his second start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday night during the Smith’s 350, after qualifying 11th earlier in the day.

Chastain got off to a hot start in his Draw-Tite Ford and made his way up to the seventh position as he entered pit road on lap 14 under caution. Crew chief, Chad Kendrick brought the No. 19 BKR Ford to pit road for fuel only, which moved Chastain up to the third position on the following restart.

Chastain powered his way to the lead on lap 38 after making a bold move getting there.

Bad luck struck the No. 19 BKR team on lap 47, while under caution, Chastain came to pit road for tires and fuel, but got stuck in his pit stall behind the No. 31. Ultimately, this cost Chastain 15 spots as he exited pit road in the 15th position.

Chastain made his third pit stop of the race on lap 62, while under caution, for a track bar adjustment and fuel, because his F-150 was becoming too loose to drive, according to the BKR driver. He entered pit road 14th and exited 16th.

A second dose of bad luck struck on lap 74 when Chastain was on pit road for fuel and two tires, he was docked for speeding and had to make a pass-through penalty dropping him all the way back to 23rd position.

It was an uphill battle for the No. 19 team from that point forward and track position was slipping ever so slowly after having a top five Truck all night. The BKR team just couldn’t catch a break and ended up finishing ­­­­­­­20th.

The No. 19 BKR team currently sits fifth in the NCWTS owner points standings, 56 points back from first.

“It was certainly a frustrating night for all of us on the No. 19 Draw-Tite team. We made adjustments and got up front, but just couldn’t overcome the small things tonight in order to go to victory lane. We will go back to drawing board and get ready for Talladega in a few weeks.” – Ross Chastain

BKR PR