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 Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
NEWTON, IOWA – JUNE 16: Ross Chastain, driver of the #44 TruNorth/Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

One victory

As stated on the previous slide, the only thing Ross Chastain needs to do aside of finish the regular season in the top 20 in the championship standings to qualify for the playoffs is win one of the final six races of the regular season.

Winning Truck Series races is not easy unless your name is Kyle Busch and you literally can’t and don’t lose when you’re allowed to compete. But second to Busch this season has been none other than Chastain.

Aside of his first to 32nd place demotion at Iowa Speedway, Chastain has not finished outside of the top 10 this season. His average finishing position in the season’s first nine races was 6.78, the best among full-time drivers, and it would be 6.20 had his M&M’s 200 victory stood, which would rank third among full-time drivers. Even still, it is a solid 9.30, which ranks fourth.

As a result, it is never surprising to see Chastain race well anywhere. He is one of the few drivers if not the only driver who is capable of winning at each and every track on the schedule, and with two (traditional) victories in the season’s first 10 races, he should be able to win at least one more race prior to the regular season’s conclusion. His chances of winning at least one of these races are probably better than him failing to win all six of them.