Chastain Dominates NASCAR truck race at Pocono

LA Times Photo

LONG POND, PA – RIS – Earlier, Ross Chastain gave up his regular Xfinity Series ride and declared for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship run.  Now we see why.  Chastain dominated the Gander RV 150 at Pocono Raceway, and made it look easy.

Pitting early near the end of Stage 2 in the 60-lap NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, Chastain regained the lead on Lap 33 and held it the rest of the way, beating surging Tyler Ankrum to the finish line by 1.007 seconds.

Stage 2 winner Harrison Burton charged from 10th to third during the closing 26-lap green-flag run and made a statement where the Playoffs are concerned.

Burton, 18, posted his fourth top five in a span of five races and closed significant ground on Canadian Stewart Friesen, who self-destructed on the first lap. Burton trails Friesen by 13 points for the final Playoff position with two races left in the regular season.

No one was a match for Chastain, who won the first stage with ease on the way to his third victory of the season and reaffirmed his status as one of the clear favorites for the series title. Chastain dedicated his first Pocono win to Kaulig Racing crew chief Nick Harrison, who passed away at age 37 after last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

“I know we were a little mad because we lost Nick Harrison,” Chastain said. “We realize that everybody goes when it’s their time, but, man, we miss that big boy. These boys (on the Niece Motorsports team), a lot of them worked with him.

“I got to work with him at Kaulig Racing this year. Man, we miss him.”

Ankrum punished his No. 17 Toyota in a futile effort to catch Chastain during the closing run.

“Me and Ross were able to run away from the field,” Ankrum said. “I thought I had a good enough truck to chase him down, but I couldn’t get close enough to him to catch the draft. I was just fighting ‘tight,’ and I burned my tires up trying to catch him.”

Short of a victory that would have locked him into a Playoff spot, Burton turned in an optimal performance from the standpoint of the points he gained

The Playoff aspirations of Friesen suffered a major blow before the field cleared the first corner. Moments after the start, Friesen took a low line into Turn 1 and his No. 52 Chevrolet broke loose in the corner, collecting the Toyota of Anthony Alfredo and slamming into the outside wall.

Friesen finished 32nd after failing to complete a lap.

Unofficial Race Results: 10th Annual Gander RV 150 - Pocono Raceway - July 27, 2019

Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Points, Status
1) 2, Ross Chastain, No. 45 Niece/Acurlite Chevrolet, 60, 1, , 2, 54, 6, 50, Running
2) 9, Tyler Ankrum #, No. 17 RAILBLAZA Toyota, 60, 10, , , , , 36, Running
3) 6, Harrison Burton #, No. 18 Morton Buildings Toyota, 60, 3, 1, 1, 6, 1, 52, Running
4) 13, Christian Eckes, No. 51 SiriusXM Toyota, 60, 7, , , , , 37, Running
5) 4, Brett Moffitt, No. 24 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 60, 5, 2, , , , 47, Running
6) 8, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Ford, 60, , 5, , , , 37, Running
7) 7, Todd Gilliland, No. 4 JBL Toyota, 60, 8, 8, , , , 36, Running
8) 16, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Tenda Heal Ford, 60, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 15, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Havoline Ford, 60, , 4, , , , 35, Running
10) 10, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Protect the Harvest/Curb Records Ford, 60, 6, 3, , , , 40, Running
11) 20, Tyler Dippel #, No. 02 Lobas Chevrolet, 60, 9, 7, , , , 32, Running
12) 22, Anthony Mrakovich, No. 8 Street Stores Wholesale Hardware Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 12, Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 60, , 9, , , , 26, Running
14) 17, Gus Dean #, No. 12 OverkillRV.com Chevrolet, 60, , 6, , , , 28, Running
15) 18, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GO TEXAN Chevrolet, 60, , 10, , , , 23, Running
16) 24, Natalie Decker #, No. 54 N29 Technologies LLC Toyota, 60, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 23, Mason Massey IV, No. 34  Toyota, 60, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 25, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 Kickass Beef Jerky Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 27, Ray Ciccarelli, No. 49 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 26, Josh Reaume, No. 33 Phantoms Hockey Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 32, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 29, Norm Benning, No. 6 H & H Transport Chevrolet, 58, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 11, Bayley Currey, No. 44 Niece Equipment Chevrolet, 58, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 30, Bryan Dauzat, No. 28 FDNY/American Genomics Chevrolet, 58, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 5, Sheldon Creed #, No. 2 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 56, 2, , , , , 21, Oil Leak
26) 21, T J Bell, No. 38 Niece Chevrolet Chevrolet, 33, , , , , , 11, Handling
27) 28, Bryant Barnhill, No. 32 Colonial Countertops Chevrolet, 26, , , , , , 10, Handling
28) 19, Joe Nemechek, No. 87  Chevrolet, 24, , , , , , 9, Handling
29) 31, Daniel Sasnett, No. 0 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 21, , , , , , 8, Handling
30) 1, Austin Hill, No. 16 United Rentals Toyota, 21, 4, , , , , 14, Clutch
31) 14, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 15 STEELSMITH Toyota, 2, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 32, 3, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 5, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 12 Mins, 27 Secs.
Race Length: 60 Laps - 150 Miles
Average Speed: 124.224 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.007 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 2, 18, 16, 24, 98, 51, 4, 02, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 24, 98, 99, 88, 12, 02, 4, 3, 22

Race Comments: Ross Chastain won the Gander RV 150 at Pocono Raceway, his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Series victory. Prior to the start of the race the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 33, 34, 39 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 4 for 12 laps;
Laps: 2-5 (No. 52, 15 Incident Turn 1 [None]);
7-8 (No. 28 Incident Turn 1 [6]);
17-19 (Stage 1 Conclusion [6]);
32-34 (Stage 2 Conclusion [13]).

Lead Changes: 3 among 2 drivers;
A. Hill 0;
R. Chastain 1-26;
H. Burton # 27-32;
R. Chastain 33-60.

Duralast GT Brakes Brake in the Race Award - Stage 1: Ross Chastain, No. 45 Stage 1
Duralast GT Brakes Brake in the Race Award - Stage 2: Harrison Burton, No. 18 Stage 2
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Ross Chastain, No. 45