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NASCAR Truck Series: Ross Chastain’s Gateway victory shakes up playoff picture

By Asher Fair

MADISON, IL - JUNE 22: Ross Chastain, driver of the CarSheild.com Chevrolet, poses for photos in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series CarShield 200 presented by CK at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 22, 2019 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
MADISON, IL - JUNE 22: Ross Chastain, driver of the CarSheild.com Chevrolet, poses for photos in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series CarShield 200 presented by CK at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 22, 2019 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images) /
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Ross Chastain’s victory in the CarShield 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway shook up the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series playoff picture.

The dominant victory of Niece Motorsports’ Ross Chastain last Sunday in the M&M’s 200 at Iowa Speedway shook up the NASCAR Truck Series playoff picture from top to bottom given the fact that this race was the season’s 10th race but it was only his second race since declaring for Truck Series points.

Until it didn’t.

After Chastain won this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 0.875-mile (1.408-kilometer) Iowa Speedway oval in Newton, Iowa, his #44 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection. As a result, he was scored in 32nd (last) place as opposed to first, and his win, his two stage wins and all the points that he earned in this race, aside of the five points that are awarded to 32nd place finishers, were stripped from him.

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Six days later, Chastain shook up the playoff picture once again — and this time he really did it, as his truck, now the #45 Chevrolet, passed post-race inspection.

The 26-year-old Alva, Florida native got the redemption that everybody knew he was capable of getting by winning the season’s 11th race, the CarShield 200, at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Chastain’s victory in this 160-lap race around the the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway oval in Madison, Illinois virtually locked him into the playoffs once again. He still needs to finish the regular season in the top 20 in the championship standings to be eligible to advance to the playoffs even though he now has a victory to his name after declaring for Truck Series points, but this should not be an issue for him.

In three starts as a Truck Series championship-eligible driver, Chastain has scored 88 points, 143 if you include the 55 points that were taken away from him after the M&M’s 200. He now sits in 25th place in the championship standings.

The driver who currently sits in 20th place in the championship standings is Reaume Brothers Racing’s Josh Reaume, who has scored 126 points in nine starts so far this season and sits just 38 points ahead of Chastain following a race during which Chastain scored 45 points while Reaume scored 14.

Here is how the playoff picture currently looks assuming that Chastain will be able to work his way into the top 20 in the championship standings over the course of the 16-race regular season’s final five races. All drivers who are not currently above the playoff cut line or within two races’ worth of points of the cut line have been omitted from this chart.

NOTE: PP = playoff points

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – Points (Difference)
1st – Johnny Sauter – #13, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 326 (1 win, 8 PP (-))
2nd – Brett Moffitt – #24, GMS Racing, Chevrolet – 411 (1 win, 6 PP (-2))
3rd – Austin Hill – #16, Hattori Racing Enterprises, Toyota – 361 (1 win, 5 PP (-3))
4th – Ross Chastain – #45, Niece Motorsports, Chevrolet – 88 (1 win, 5 PP (-3))
5th – Grant Enfinger – #98, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 480 (+116)
6th – Stewart Friesen – #52, Halmar Friesen Racing, Chevrolet – 426 (+62)
7th – Matt Crafton – #88, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 421 (+57)
8th – Ben Rhodes – #99, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 417 (+53)
————————— PLAYOFF CUT LINE —————————
9th – Harrison Burton – #18, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota – 364 (-53)
10th – Todd Gilliland – #4, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota – 333 (-84)
10th – Sheldon Creed – #2, GMS Racing, Chevrolet – 333 (-84)

The biggest implication of Chastain’s victory as far as the playoff cut line is concerned is the fact that both Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates are now below the cut line. Not only that, they are now both well below the cut line.

Both Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland are likely in need of victories in order to advance to the playoffs, and neither one of them has ever won a Truck Series race before.

Meanwhile, everybody above the playoff cut line based on their point totals alone appear to be safe in terms of locking themselves into the playoffs assuming that nobody who currently sits below the cut line but in the top 20 in the championship standings wins one of the regular season’s final five races.

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With just three NASCAR Truck Series starts under his belt after declaring for Truck Series points, Ross Chastain is practically halfway to the Championship 4 with his berth in the eight-driver playoffs all but sealed. How far will he advance in this year’s playoffs assuming he gets there? Will he win the 2019 championship? As he continues to prove on a weekly basis, the sky is his limit.

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