In his fourth fulltime season in the Xfinity series driving for Johnny Davis, Ross Chastain is still one of the Davids battling Goliath.
Last week at Iowa Speedway, Chastain took advantage of attrition late in the race to score his second career top five – and more importantly, finish one spot ahead of John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
The two drivers are battling for the final playoff spot in the Xfinity series and Chastain’s finish increased his lead over Nemechek to five points.
“He was running in the top 10 before those last restarts and the wreck that he gained a couple of more spots on,” Parker Kligerman said in Monday’s edition of NASCAR America. “He was running in the top 10 in a car that does not deserve to be in the top 10 – he’s told me many times.
They don’t deserve to be in the playoffs, but they are.”
Kligerman believes the difference is the driver. Chastain is able to get more out of the No. 4 Chevrolet than it has to give.
Kligerman added: “He does the same thing in Cup for Premium Motorsports when he goes out and runs top 25 in a car that should not be running in the top 25.
“It’s amazing what Ross Chastain is doing in underfunded equipment and you’ve got to think someone in this sport is going to take notice of this young man and say, ‘I can find value in what he’s doing.’ “
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