03/09/2020
Chastain Finishes 23rd to Wrap West Coast Swing
AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 8, 2020) – After advancing as high as 11th in the final stage of Sunday afternoon’s 500-mile event at Phoenix Raceway, Ross Chastain crossed the line 23rd in the Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang after a spin late in the race.
In Oscar Mayer’s first race of 2020 – featuring the #MyNumber6 fan-designed scheme – Chastain rolled off the grid 24th after qualifying on Saturday. He gradually made up ground over the course of the day, nearly cracking the top-10 late, before getting spun on a restart late, which set he and the team back for the final few laps.
Early on Chastain fought tight conditions in his No. 6 machine, before ending the opening stage 18th. He would fire off 23rd for stage two, before reporting tight conditions again throughout the middle portion of the second segment. Over the course of the final 20 laps, Chastain fought his way up to 13th where the stage would end under yellow as the balance improved.
Chastain found himself 14th to begin the final stage, as a total of seven cautions would be displayed until the end. He ran 15th at lap 220 for one of the many restarts, when he received minor right-front damage. Three caution flags later, Chastain was 18th when teammate Chris Buescher cut a tire, as a host of cars stayed out – including Chastain – to put him 11th on a restart at lap 282.
While batting for position a few laps later on another restart, Chastain went for a spin from the 14th position and pitted for four fresh tires as the laps quickly wound down from there in NASCAR overtime as Chastain finished 23rd.
The No. 6 team heads to Georgia next weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series visits Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90).
