NASCAR: Has Ross Chastain failed to meet expectations?

In the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Ross Chastain went winless and missed the Championship 4. Did he fail to meet expectations driving for Kaulig Racing?

When the NASCAR Xfinity Series visits Phoenix Raceway for the 2020 season finale on Saturday, November 7, Ross Chastain will make his final Xfinity Series start in a full-time campaign.

After joining Kaulig Racing for this season, he soon became a prohibitive favorite to win the championship. However, he did not win a race this year, and he failed to make the Championship 4. Has he failed to meet expectations?

Last year was the year of Ross Chastain in NASCAR. He lost his Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing due to sponsorship issues, then he found a full-time ride split between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing.

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After performing surprisingly well in the Truck Series, Chastain switched his series eligibility. Driving for Niece Motorsports, he won three races, made the Championship 4, and ultimately finished in second place in the championship standings.

He joined Kaulig Racing on a full-time deal this year after competing part-time for the team last year. Last year, he earned the team’s first ever victory at Daytona International Speedway. When he joined the team full-time for 2020, he set two goals for this season: “We get to try to win more races and also compete for the championship.”

This year, Kaulig Racing have won five times, but Chastain has not gone to victory lane. Furthermore, the team’s other full-time driver, Justin Haley, made the Championship 4.

So where did it go wrong for Chastain?

He missed the Championship 4, ironically to Haley, by just five points. Haley won three times and had 23 playoff points. As for Chastain? He only had 10 playoff points. If he would have won one race, there would have been a tie.

The race Chastain likely wishes he could have a mulligan on was the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway. He and his two Kaulig Racing teammates, Haley and A.J. Allmendinger, combined to lead 68 of the 100 laps. All three were up front when the white flag flew. At that point, they aggressively fought for the win.

If Chastain would have won that race, he would have gained five playoff points. Haley, who won that race, would not have received those five playoff points.

That 10-point swing would have Chastain in the Championship 4 instead of Haley.

In the round of 8, Chastain finished in 12th and 16th place in the first two races at Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, respectively. He accrued 68 points. Haley finished in fourth and seventh in those two races, earning 70 points.

In the final race of the round of 8 at Martinsville Speedway, Haley earned 14 stage points. Chastain scored 17 stage points, including 10 by winning the second stage. At the end of the race, Chastain finished fifth while Haley finished in 12th.

That gave Chastain an eight-point advantage over Haley in the three-race point totals. But factor in Haley’s overall 13-point playoff advantage, and he advanced by just five points, instead of missing out by the same advantage had Chastain won the Wawa 250.

As Chase Elliott and Grant Enfinger proved with their victories at Martinsville Speedway to advance to the Championship 4, winning matters.

Chastain can take some solace in his season as a whole, though. He leads all drivers in top 10 finishes, he has completed the second-most laps behind only nine-time winner Chase Briscoe, and he leads the series in lead-lap finishes. Nevertheless, he led the pack with five runner-up finishes, and any one of those cost him a shot to win the championship.

Now eliminated from championship contention, Chastain will turn his focus to both helping Haley win the championship as well as hopefully wheeling his #10 Chevrolet to victory lane to close out the season.

“I’m proud of the fight from everyone on this No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions team and Kaulig Racing here at Martinsville,” Chastain said in a team release. “I put us in a hole coming here at the last two races, and that showed through coming up just short of moving on to the final round. We will go to Phoenix and go for a win.”

Chastain is slated to make his 11th career Xfinity Series start at the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona. He has one top 10 finish there, as he finished in ninth place after leading four laps in the most recent trip there back in early March.

The 27-year-old Alva, Florida native has a bright future ahead of him, too. He will take his talents full-time to the Cup Series next year, driving the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, replacing interim driver Matt Kenseth after Kyle Larson was fired following his use of a racial slur.

Chastain has made 79 career Cup Series starts for Premium Motorsports and Spire Motorsports. He has one top 10 finish, a 10th place effort in the 2019 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, but he will be driving a fast Chevrolet next year.

New teammate Kurt Busch currently sits in 11th place in the championship standings with a victory in the round of 12 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although Kenseth has largely struggled in the #42 Chevrolet, he and Larson still posted a a combined two top five finishes (one for Larson in four races) and five top 10 finishes (three for Larson). Plus, Chip Ganassi has faith in Chastain.

“In three races with our organization in 2018 and watching ever since, he showed me and everyone else that he is a tenacious driver who wants to win,” Ganassi said in the hiring announcement. “We believe that Ross will give our team the opportunity to be competitive each week and our sponsors someone to build a program around. Additionally, his racing background has him well-suited to make the move to the Cup Series.”

Yes, Chastain failed to both win a race and make the Championship 4 this year. But he elevated Kaulig Racing to a winning, championship-caliber organization. Furthermore, his performance resulted in a promotion. This year may not have met his expectations, but it has been an impressive year for him nonetheless.

Ross Chastain and his fellow Xfinity Series competitors are scheduled to end their season at Phoenix Raceway in the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 on Saturday, November 7, with live TV coverage provided by NBC Sports Network beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET.