NASCAR Truck Series: Ross Chastain is officially playoff eligible

Five races into his stint as a full-time NASCAR Truck Series driver declared for Truck Series points, Ross Chastain has officially become playoff eligible.

Eight races into the 16-race 2019 NASCAR Truck Series regular season, Niece Motorsports’ Ross Chastain had not finished a race outside of the top 10, and he had recorded an average finishing position of an impressive 6.38, which included the first victory of his Truck Series career at Kansas Speedway.

The 26-year-old Alva, Florida native made the decision to declare for Truck Series points knowing that his victory at Kansas Speedway and the points that he would have accrued through the season’s first eight races would not go toward a potential playoff berth.

He needed to win a race and launch himself into the top 20 in the championship standings throughout the regular season’s final eight races in order to officially secure himself a playoff berth.

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In his second race as a full-time Truck Series driver at Iowa Speedway, he dominated en route to taking the checkered flag, virtually locking himself into the playoffs since he was able to climb so far up the championship standings and many drivers who he still needed to pass to get into the 20 were only part-time drivers.

But then his #44 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection, and he was stripped of his victory and all of the points that came with it, meaning he needed to win another race and climb up the championship standings once again.

He took care of the former by winning the next race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and five races into his stint as a full-time Truck Series driver, he has taken care of the latter.

Following his fourth place finish in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225, Chastain is officially playoff eligible.

Chastain entered this 150-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kentucky Speedway oval in Sparta, Kentucky in 24th place in the championship standings with 120 points, 10 points behind Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing’s Jennifer Jo Cobb in 20th.

After finishing in fifth place in stage one, second in stage two in and fourth in the race itself, Chastain gained a total of 48 points, and as a result, he has launched himself into 18th in the standings with 168 points and now sits 23 points ahead of Cobb in 21st.

How far is Ross Chastain capable of advancing in the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs? Does he have what it takes to make a run to the Championship 4 and perhaps win the championship? Three races remain on the regular season schedule before the playoffs are scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 15 with the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.