NASCAR Truck Series: 5 reasons Ross Chastain can still win the 2019 title

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 17: Ross Chastain, driver of the #45 TruNorth/Paul Jr. Designs Chevrolet, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 17: Ross Chastain, driver of the #45 TruNorth/Paul Jr. Designs Chevrolet, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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NEWTON, IOWA – JUNE 16: Ross Chastain, driver of the #44 TruNorth/Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
NEWTON, IOWA – JUNE 16: Ross Chastain, driver of the #44 TruNorth/Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) /

Top 20 in the championship standings

One of the requirements for Ross Chastain to be eligible to compete in the playoffs, even if he earns a victory that actually counts toward his playoff bid, is that he must finish in the top 20 in the regular season championship standings.

This may seem like a tall task for the man who currently sits all the way down in 35th place in the championship standings and 69 points, more than one full race’s worth of points, out of the top 20 in the standings.

But a grand total of zero of the drivers who Chastain needs to pass in the championship standings to launch himself into the top 20 are even full-time drivers, and none of the part-time drivers are even close to being considered perennial weekend contenders for top-notch results, if not victories, like Chastain is. He is more than capable of making up these 69 points and far more over the course of the regular season’s final six races.

He earned 38 points in the race at Texas Motor Speedway, including 11 stage points and 27 for his 10th place finish in the race, his season-low finish, and after sweeping the first two stages and the race itself at Iowa Speedway, he was already up to 98 points and 25th place in the championship standings, just 14 points out of the top 20. He likely would have been in the top 20 after this Saturday night’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Getting to the top 20 in the championship standings is the least of Chastain’s concerns. It should be a piece of cake considering how long he has to do it.