NASCAR Truck Series: Ross Chastain to return in 2020 after all

Ross Chastain is slated to return to the NASCAR Truck Series driving for Niece Motorsports in the 2020 season after all, albeit in a part-time role.

Ross Chastain opened up 2019 slated to compete full-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. That quickly changed, as a sponsorship debacle forced Chip Ganassi to shutter his Xfinity Series operation for the year.

Chastain ended up landing a deal to compete full-time at NASCAR’s second highest level after all, but for two teams, JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing.

The 27-year-old Alva, Florida native, who had previously been confirmed as Premium Motorsports’ full-time driver for the 2019 Cup Series season, was slated to run for points in the Xfinity Series while competing in the Cup Series and part-time in the Truck Series.

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Eight races into the 16-race Truck Series regular season, however, Chastain had already won a race driving for Niece Motorsports, and he had not experienced nearly that amount of success in the Xfinity Series.

As a result, he declared for Truck Series points.

Throughout the second half of the regular season, he was able to work his way into the playoffs. While he qualified for the Championship 4, he ultimately came up shy of securing the title, finishing runner-up to Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing.

Chastain, who ended up competing in 77 of the 92 races in NASCAR’s top three series in 2019, had already been confirmed at Kaulig Racing for the full 2020 Xfinity Series season by the time the 2019 season ended, a ride in which he is slated to compete for points and the championship.

There were rumors that the “Busiest Driver in NASCAR” would be back in the Cup Series with Premium Motorsports in 2020, as the fact that he did not compete for points in the 2018 season or the 2019 season did not prevent the team from hiring him as their full-time driver.

However, not even 24 hours after he was officially replaced behind the wheel of the #45 Chevrolet at Niece Motorsports by Ty Majeski, a move that was anticipated with Chastain set to compete for points in the Xfinity Series, Premium Motorsports confirmed that it would be Brennan Poole behind the wheel of the #15 Chevrolet in 2020.

So would the “Watermelon Man” be able to continue competing in multiple series next year? That was certainly still his goal.

Now it’s a reality.

Chastain and Niece Motorsports have confirmed that he will be back with the team for the 2020 Truck Series season, albeit in a part-time, non-points-paying role.

Ross Chastain’s schedule has not yet been confirmed for the 2020 NASCAR Truck Series season, but we do know that he is slated to drive the #44 Chevrolet and that the #44 Chevrolet is slated to be driven by Carson Hocevar in nine of the season’s 23 races. Chastain is set to split time behind the wheel with Hocevar and another unnamed driver in the other 14 events.