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  • Chastain to make 100th Truck Series career start at Sonoma

    Chastain to make 100th Truck Series career start at Sonoma

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ return to Sonoma Raceway in 24 years is set to mark the fifth and final scheduled series start of the season for Cup Series competitor Ross Chastain. It is also the site that will mark a milestone start for the two-time Cup winner who currently competes for Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. By competing in this weekend’s event at Sonoma with Niece Motorsports, Chastain will make his 100th career start in the Truck circuit. 

    A native of Alva, Florida, Chastain made his Truck debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in July 2011, where he replaced his future team owner Justin Marks in the No. 66 Chevrolet Silverado for Turn One Racing. By then, he was also making his inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Starting in 15th place, Chastain notched a 10th-place result in his series debut. He returned to compete at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway between August and November, where he finished in the top 30 during the four-race stretch.

    During the following season, Chastain competed as a full-time Truck competitor in the No. 08 Toyota Tundra for SS-Green Light Racing. The highlight of his full-time rookie season was notching his first top-five result in the series by finishing in third place at Bristol in August. To go along with a total of four top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 21.3 during the 22-race schedule, he capped off the season in 17th place in the final standings.

    In 2013, Chastain joined Brad Keselowski Racing as a part-time competitor of the No. 19 Ford F-150 for 14 of 22-scheduled Truck events. He commenced the season by finishing 14th at Daytona followed by a 20th-place result at Martinsville. After finishing no higher than fifth during his next six scheduled starts, Chastain was placed in prime position of notching his first Truck victory at Iowa Speedway in September. Despite starting on pole position and leading a race-high 116 of 212 laps, he was overtaken by the reigning series champion James Buescher during two green-white-checkered restarts and settled in a career-best second place. Four races later at Phoenix in November, Chastain led 63 of 150 laps until he was overtaken and beaten by newcomer Erik Jones during a 10-lap shootout to the finish. Finishing in second place for the second time of the season, Chastain capped off the season with an eighth-place result at Homestead along with his first two career poles, four top-five results, seven top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.0 in 14 starts.

    After departing Brad Keselowski Racing at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Chastain competed the first two Truck events of 2014 with RBR Enterprises. He finished 30th during the season-opening event at Daytona after being involved in a late multi-truck wreck and rallied to finish 14th at Martinsville during the following event. Chastain returned for the season finale event at Homestead, where he piloted the No. 35 Win-Tron Racing Toyota Tundra to an 11th-place result.

    After failing to qualify for a single Truck event in 2015 and making just a single start at Talladega with Bolen Motorsports in 2016, Chastain campaigned in seven of the first 10 scheduled Truck events with Bolen. During the stretch, his season-best results were a 10th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February followed by a seventh-place result at Martinsville in March. He would then compete in a total of seven Truck events in 2018 between Beaver Motorsports, Premium Motorsports and Niece Motorsports. During his part-time season in 2018, his best result was a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

    Despite having a full-time Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing fall apart due to sponsorship woes, the 2019 season produced a hefty schedule for Chastain, who campaigned in nearly all events between all three national touring series. Entering the season as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Premium Motorsports and as a part-time Xfinity competitor between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing, Chastain initially commenced the season as a part-time Truck competitor for Niece Motorsports. After finishing in the top 10 during the first six scheduled events, he notched his first Truck career victory at Kansas Speedway in May after overtaking Stewart Friesen, who ran out of fuel, under the final two laps. Chastain’s first win in the Truck circuit also marked the first victory in NASCAR for Niece Motorsports. A month later, he elected to compete for the Truck Series title as a full-time competitor for Niece Motorsports. 

    Commencing his late season charge for the 2019 Truck title, Chastain notched what would have been his second victory of the season at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory, however, was short-lived due to his truck failing post-race inspection, which prompted NASCAR to strip him of the victory as part of the sport’s new disqualification policy and demote him to last place of the 32-truck field. Despite the disqualification, Chastain and Niece Motorsports responded back with vengeance during the following event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway by utilizing a fuel only pit stop to win and notch a second victory of the season along with a $50,000 bonus as part of the series’ newly formed Triple Truck Challenge. The Gateway victory along with his third victory of the season and of his career at Pocono Raceway in July were enough for Chastain and Niece Motorsports to qualify for the 2019 Truck Playoffs. 

    At the start of the 2019 Truck Playoffs, Chastain finished no lower than eighth during the Round of 8 to advance to the Round of 6. Despite being involved in a late multi-truck wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in October, he earned back-to-back top-10 results during the following two events to earn a spot in the Championship 4 round and contend for the 2019 Truck title at Homestead in November. During the finale, however, Chastain finished in fourth place on the track and in the runner-up spot in the final championship standings behind Matt Crafton. To go along with a runner-up result in the final standings while achieving his first three carer victories in the series, Chastain capped off the 2019 Truck season with a pole, 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 591 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.6.

    As Chastain moved up to compete for the 2020 Xfinity Series championship for Kaulig Racing, he also returned on a part-time basis in the Truck circuit for Niece Motorsports. He competed in eight of the first nine scheduled events amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where his best result was a third-place effort at Homestead in June. His final start of the season occurred at Bristol in August, where he finished eighth. By then, he accumulated six top-10 results in nine starts of the season.

    In 2021, Chastain, who became a full-time Cup competitor for Chip Ganassi Racing, returned to compete in four Truck events for Niece Motorsports. His first start of the season occurred at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished seventh, followed by Kansas in May, where he earned a runner-up result behind Kyle Busch. At Texas in June, Chastain initially finished third, but he was later disqualified and demoted to last place of the 36-truck field due to his truck failing post-race inspection pertaining to a throttle body. His final start of the season occurred at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where he finished 22nd.

    This season, Chastain, who is a full-time Cup competitor for Trackhouse Racing, made his first Truck start of the season with Niece Motorsports at Atlanta in June, where he finished 23rd following multiple flat tire issues. After finishing 26th and 12th at Darlington Raceway and at Texas Motor Speedway, respectively, Chastain benefitted through two overtime attempts and a late incident involving teammate Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece to notch his fourth Truck Series career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Through 99 previous Truck starts, Chastain has recorded four victories, three poles, 18 top-five results, 43 top-10 results, 913 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.7 as he pursues his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Sonoma Raceway.

    Chastain is scheduled to make his 100th Camping World Truck Series career start at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 11, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • LaJoie to achieve 150 starts across NASCAR at Kansas

    LaJoie to achieve 150 starts across NASCAR at Kansas

    A significant milestone is in the making for Corey LaJoie, driver of the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway, LaJoie will reach 150 starts across NASCAR’s top three major division series. 

    A native of Kannapolis, North Carolina, and the son of two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie, Corey’s first appearance within NASCAR’s three major division series was the 2013 Xfinity Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. By then, he was a development competitor for Richard Petty Motorsports and he had won six career races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and three in the ARCA Racing Series. Driving the No. 9 Ford Mustang for RPM, LaJoie finished 34th in his debut after being involved in an early accident. 

    LaJoie’s racing schedule in 2014 expanded, as he made his first two starts in the NASCAR Truck Series with RBR Enterprises and five starts in the Xfinity Series with Biagi-DenBeste Racing. His best result in the Truck Series was 10th at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and his best result in the Xfinity Series was 16th at Kentucky Speedway in June. He also made his first two career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with Randy Humphrey Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

    Following a one-year absence from NASCAR, LaJoie returned in 2016 and competed in 10 Xfinity Series races with JGL Racing. His best results during his 10-race slate were a 10th-place result at Bristol in August and a sixth-place result at Dover International Speedway in October. 

    The following season, LaJoie joined forces with BK Racing as a part-time Cup Series competitor. During the first Can-Am Duel race at Daytona International Speedway in February, LaJoie rallied from being involved in a controversial wreck with Reed Sorenson, whom LaJoie wrecked in the closing laps, to finish 16th and earn a transfer spot in the Daytona 500 a few days later. LaJoie went on to finish 24th in his first Daytona 500 appearance.

    Throughout the 2017 season, LaJoie competed in 32 of 36 Cup races while earning a best result of 11th place at Daytona in July and an average result of 30.2. He also competed in six Xfinity races with JGL Racing and earned a best result of 15th place (twice).

    In 2018, LaJoie joined TriStar Motorsports as a part-time Cup competitor. He competed in 23 of 36 races with the team, earning a best result of 16th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September and an average result of 31.5. 

    After TriStar Motorsports ceased operations following the 2018 season, LaJoie teamed up with Go Fas Racing to drive the No. 32 Ford Mustang for the 2019 Cup season. LaJoie started the season by finishing in 18th place in the Daytona 500. Through the first 10 races of the season, his highest result on the track was 11th place at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He went on to achieve his first pair of top-10 results in the Cup circuit at Daytona in July (sixth place) and at Talladega in October (seventh place). He concluded the season in 29th place in the final standings along with seven top-20 results and an average result of 25.9. Following the 2019 season, LaJoie surpassed 100 starts between NASCAR’s three major division series.

    LaJoie remained with Go Fas Racing for the 2020 Cup season. He started this season on a harrowing note when he rammed into the upside down car of Ryan Newman on the driver’s side approaching the finish line. The impact demolished the front nose of LaJoie’s No. 32 RagingBull.com Ford Mustang, though he was able to finish in eighth place and emerge uninjured. He went on to finish in 16th place the following week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Through 32 of 36 races this season, LaJoie’s eighth-place result in the Daytona 500 marks his lone top-10 result, though he has achieved a total of six top-20 results. He is in 30th place in the standings and is coming off a 27th-place result in last weekend’s Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. 

    LaJoie is set to become a free agent after announcing in August that he will not be remaining with Go Fas Racing for the 2021 season, though he has yet to announce next year’s racing plans.

    Catch LaJoie’s milestone start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, October 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Chastain to reach 350 starts across NASCAR at Darlington

    Chastain to reach 350 starts across NASCAR at Darlington

    A significant milestone is in the making for Ross Chastain, a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Kaulig Racing and part-time competitor in the NASCAR Cup and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. By the time Chastain completes this weekend’s Xfinity and Cup doubleheader events at Darlington Raceway, he will achieve 350 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series).

    A native of Alva, Florida, who grew up as a watermelon farmer for his family’s farm and started racing after watching his father hobby racing, Chastain started his career by winning in late models and Fastruck Series races. His first start within NASCAR’s three major division series occurred at Lucas Oil Raceway in July 2011, where he drove the No. 66 Chevrolet Silverado for Turn One Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series. Starting 15th, Chastain finished 10th in his series debut. He went on to compete in four additional Truck races with Turn One Racing.

    In 2012, Chastain was named a full-time competitor of the No. 08 Toyota Tundra for SS-Green Light Racing as he entered the Truck Series as a Rookie-of-the-Year contender. Throughout the 22-race season, Chastain achieved four top-10 results, a career-best third-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and he concluded the season in 17th place in the final standings. He made one start in the No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado for SS-Green Light Racing at Phoenix, where he finished 33rd.

    The following season, Chastain competed in 14 Truck races with Brad Keselowski Racing and in the No. 19 Ford F-150 led by Chad Kendrick. His first start with the team was at Daytona International Speedway in February, where he finished 14th. He went on to finish 20th at Martinsville Speedway in April and ninth at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. He achieved his first top-five result of the season at Pocono Raceway in August. Two races later at Iowa Speedway, Chastain was dominant as he started on pole position and led a race-high 116 of 212 laps, only to be overtaken by James Buescher on a late restart and settle in a career-best second place. He went on to finish third at Talladega Superspeedway in October and second at Phoenix in November following a late battle with eventual winner Erik Jones. He finished in eighth place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and capped off his 14-race stint at BKR with four top-five results, seven top-10 results and his first two career poles.

    In 2014, Chastain competed in his first seven NASCAR Xfinity Series races along with three Truck Series races. He competed between Viva Motorsports, Hattori Racing Enterprises and TriStar Motorsports in the Xfinity circuit, with his best result being 10th place at Kentucky Speedway in September. He competed between RBR Enterprises and Win-Tron Racing in the Truck Series, with his best result being 11th place at Homestead in November.

    For the 2015 season, Chastain was named a full-time competitor for JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. Making 31 starts in JDM’s No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro and two in JDM’s No. 01 Chevrolet Camaro, Chastain achieved four top-10 results and a career-best result of ninth place at Daytona in February. He concluded the season in 15th place in the final standings.

    Between 2016 and 2017, Chastain continued to drive for JD Motorsports and the No. 4 Chevrolet on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series. Following the 2016 season, he surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series. He finished 15th in the final standings in 2016 and 16th in 2017. Between June and July 2017, Chastain achieved back-to-back top-10 results, which included a career-best fourth-place result at Iowa Speedway. He also made a total of eight starts in the Truck Series with Bolen Motorsports, where his best result was seventh place at Martinsville Speedway in April. In addition, he made his first two NASCAR Cup Series career starts in both Dover International Speedway races while driving for Premium Motorsports. He finished 20th in his debut at the Monster Mile in June and 38th in his second start in October.

    The 2018 season was an eventful season for Chastain, who made 34 starts in the Cup Series, 33 starts in the Xfinity Series and seven starts in the Truck Series. In the Truck circuit, he made a total of seven starts between Beaver Motorsports, Premium Motorsports and Niece Motorsports. His best result was seventh place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September. In the Cup circuit, he competed in 34 of 36 races with Premium Motorsports. His best results were an 18th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in April and a 20th-place result at Las Vegas in September.

    For the first 23 Xfinity Series of the season, Chastain recorded one top-five result and six top-10 results, all while during his fourth season with JD Motorsports. Then, in September, Chastain made his first of three starts in the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing led by crew chief Mike Shiplett at Darlington Raceway. During the main event, Chastain started on pole position for the first time in his career, led a race-high 90 laps and won the first two stages. His strong run, however, was spoiled following a late on-track incident with Kevin Harvick as Chastain ended his race in 25th place. Competing the following race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for JD Motorsports, Chastain returned to the No. 42 team at Las Vegas in September seeking redemption. During the main event, Chastain dominated again as he won the first two stages and led a race-high 180 laps. This time, Chastain sealed the deal after beating Justin Allgaier to achieve his first career win across NASCAR’s three major division series. His first Xfinity career win, which occurred in his 132nd series start and also occurred in the regular-season finale at Vegas, was enough for the Floridian to secure a spot in the 2018 Xfinity Playoffs as he introduced his celebratory trademark by smashing a watermelon.

    During his first run in the Xfinity Playoffs, Chastain went on to finish in second place at Richmond in September, which also marked his final start with Chip Ganassi Racing. Returning to JD Motorsports, he finished 12th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and 13th at Dover. When the dust settled, Chastain was beaten by Matt Tifft for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by three points. He went on to conclude the season in a career-best 10th place in the final standings as he also achieved a career-high three top-five results, eight top-10 results and 272 laps led. Following the 2018 season, he surpassed 200 career starts across NASCAR.

    In November 2018, it was announced that Chastain would compete in the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing on a full-time basis for the 2019 Xfinity Series season. The announcement came a month after Chastain revealed plans to compete in the Cup Series for Premium Motorsports. However, the team ceased operations in January when DC Solar was raided by the FBI. Fortunately, Chastain was picked up by Niece Motorsports to compete in the Truck Series on a part-time basis led by crew chief Phil Gould and by JD Motorsports for 30 Xfinity races. In addition, he signed a three-race deal to pilot the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.

    Competing in all three series’ openers at Daytona International Speedway, Chastain finished third in the Truck Series with Niece Motorsports, 13th in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing after winning the second stage and 10th in his first Daytona 500 start with Premium Motorsports. Through the beginning of June, Chastain competed in the first 12 Xfinity races and recorded a best result of seventh place at Las Vegas in March. He also competed in the first eight Truck races with Niece Motorsports, achieving top-10 results in all of his starts and collecting his first Truck career win at Kansas Speedway in May following a late pass on Stewart Friesen. To cap off his eventful start to this season, he competed in the first 14 Cup races with Premium Motorsports.

    On June 4, Chastain declared himself a full-time Truck Series competitor to contend for points and the series title with Niece Motorsports. In order to achieve his goal of making the Playoffs, he would have to win again throughout the regular-season stretch and be scored inside the top 20 in the standings. After finishing in 10th place at Texas Motor Speedway following his announcement, Chastain achieved his second victory of the season at Iowa Speedway following a dominating performance. Following the race, however, Chastain was disqualified due to his truck failing post-race technical inspection and NASCAR awarded the win to runner-up finisher Brett Moffitt. Chastain’s disqualification from winning was a first in NASCAR since Emanuel Zervakis was disqualified from winning at North Carolina’s Wilson Speedway in April 1960 due to an oversized fuel tank.

    Chastain rebounded the following race with vengeance after scoring a late win at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway and collecting a $50,000 for winning a Triple Truck Challenge race. This time, Chastain’s win at Gateway was ruled official. After finishing seventh at Chicagoland Speedway and fourth at Kentucky Speedway the following two races, Chastain made himself Playoff eligible after moving into the top 20 in the standings. The following race, he achieved his third victory of his career/season at Pocono Raceway and he entered the postseason as a title favorite. During the Playoffs, Chastain achieved three top-five results and five top-10 results as he made the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. During the finale, however, he finished fourth at Homestead and fell short of his first NASCAR championship to Matt Crafton. Despite the final outcome, he logged in a successful season in the Truck circuit, where he recorded three wins, a pole, 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, an average result of 8.6 and 591 laps led before concluding the season in a career-best second place. In the end, he was named the 2019 Truck Most Popular Driver.

    Chastain’s on-track success in 2019 did not only come from the Truck Series. At Daytona in July, while piloting Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro, Chastain led a 1-2-3 finish for the team across the line as he achieved his first victory at Daytona, second of his Xfinity career and the first NASCAR win for Kaulig Racing. Despite teammate A.J. Allmendinger being disqualified from third place for failing post-race technical inspection, Chastain’s victory and teammate Justin Haley’s runner-up result were deemed official by NASCAR. He made a total of seven additional Xfinity starts since June, where he also finished in second place at Texas in November behind Christopher Bell while driving for Kaulig. Overall, he capped off the 2019 Xfinity season with a win, a pole, two top-five results and eight top-10 results between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing.

    On the Cup side, Chastain made 35 starts in the No. 15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports. His best results were a 10th-place result at the Daytona 500 in February and a 12th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

    In total, Chastain made 77 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series in 2019. Early into the season, he broke Kyle Busch’s record in competing in the most consecutive races across all three series to start a season. Following the 2019 season, he surpassed 300 career starts across NASCAR.

    Three months after winning at Daytona, Chastain was named a full-time competitor of the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing led by crew chief Bruce Schlicker for the 2020 Xfinity Series season. Prior to the 2020 season, he also planned to compete in select Truck Series races with Niece Motorsports and in the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE sponsored by AdventHealth in the Cup Series for the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. His No. 77 ride was under a partnership between Spire Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Chastain started the 2020 season by finishing in eighth place in the Truck opener at Daytona with Niece Motorsports. For the Xfinity opener, however, he initially failed to qualify for the event, along with teammate A.J. Allmendinger, due to mechanical issues. Nonetheless, he was able to compete when veteran Jeff Green relinquished his seat at RSS Racing. Chastain went on to finish 22nd in the Xfinity opener. For the Daytona 500, he made a late charge to the front until he was involved in a multi-car accident and settled in 25th place.

    Through September 2, Chastain has made eight starts in the Truck Series with Niece Motorsports and has recorded one top-five result and five top-10 results. He has also made seven Cup starts between Spire Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, where he served as an interim competitor for the injured Ryan Newman. His best results in the series include a 16th-place run at Daytona in August and a pair of 17th-place results at Auto Club Speedway in March and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

    Through the first 22 Xfinity Series races of this season and as a full-time competitor, Chastain has recorded one stage win, two Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonuses, nine top-five results and 19 top-10 results. He is currently in third place in the Xfinity regular-season standings and is 420 points above the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs and with four regular-season races remaining. Thus far, his average result is 8.8.

    While Chastain is set to compete in this weekend’s Xfinity and Cup races at Darlington, he will also be sporting a special white, red, blue and gold paint scheme to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports/Dirty Mo Media Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on the Cup side while paying tribute to the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and his 1976 Hy-Gain Chevy.

    Catch Chastain’s milestone start on Sunday, September 6, at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500, which will occur at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.