Ross Chastain took his No. 45 Chevrolet to victory lane on Friday at Kansas Speedway. Chastain, who led five of the 167 circuits enroute to his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, passed leader Stewart Friesen with three laps to go in the Digital Ally 250.
Chastain came into the season with a Chip Ganassi Racing ride all locked up in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. A short while after the deal was announced, D.C. Solar caught legal troubles and the deal fell through — leaving Chastain without a ride.
Since the start of the year, Chastain has driven for numerous teams in all three series to stay afloat as he waits for the next opportunity to come along.
In seven starts in 2019, Chastain holds three top five and seven top 10 finishes.
Friesen ran out of fuel while leading with three laps to go and had to pit. The driver of the No. 52 Chevrolet, winner of both stages, went on to finish 15th and one lap down. The driver from Canada led 87 of the 167 laps.
Ben Rhodes and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top three of the Digital Ally 250. Rhodes started the event from the 14th starting spot while Gilliland started the 250-mile event in fifth.
Austin Hill and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five finishers.
Pole sitter Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton rounded out the top 10.
There were two main crashes that impacted a number of contenders. Natalie Decker went for a spin in turn four that ended her night on lap 52. Decker finished 25th and 116 laps down.
The other incident that involved a pair of heavy hitters happened on lap 138 in turn two. Brett Moffitt and Grant Enfinger tangled while racing upfront — costing them the shot of a trophy at Kansas. Enfinger finished seventh while Moffitt took home eighth.
The next race for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 17. The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 will air live on FS1 and MRN Radio at 8:30 p.m. ET.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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