Ross Chastain takes dominating NASCAR Truck win at Pocono

Chastain grabbed the lead on Lap 1 and ended up remaining out front for 54 of 60 laps, easily holding off Tyler Ankrum to win the Gander RV 150.

The win is Chastain’s third in the Truck Series this season as he continues to chase his first NASCAR championship.

"It takes us being a little mad. I'm not going to lie, we were a little mad we lost Nick Harrison," Chastain said. "We realize everybody goes when it's their time but, man, we miss that big boy. A lot of these boys worked with him, I got to work with him at Kaulig Racing this year. Man, we miss him.

"We stomped them in the dirt, we pressed the attack. I'm so dang excited."

Harrison, who was crew chief for Justin Haley at Kaulig in the Xfinity Series, died in his sleep last Sunday. He was 37.

Chastain’s win also ended the streak of four consecutive Pocono Truck wins by Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers.

Harrison Burton finished third, Christian Eckes – who won the ARCA race on Friday – was fourth and Brett Moffitt completed the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, those drivers who had yet to pit did, which left Chastain back in the lead on the restart on Lap 35.

He was followed by Ankrum and Matt Crafton.

With 20 laps remaining in the race, Chastain had opened up a 1.6-second margin on Ankrum while Ben Rhodes moved up to third.

Ankrum had cut Chastain’s lead to less than a second with 15 laps to go as Eckes ran in third. Burton was fourth and Rhodes fifth.

After 50 laps, Chastain was able to expand his lead to more than 2 seconds over Ankrum.

Stage 2 

Burton held off Moffitt to take the Stage 2 win, his first stage victory of the 2019 season.

Grant Enfinger was third, Rhodes fourth and Crafton completed the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, several lead-lap trucks elected to pit but Chastain stayed out and remained in the lead when the race restarted on Lap 20. 

Creed tagged the wall on the restart but continued on as no caution was called. He appeared to suffer damage to his splitter.

With 10 laps to go in the second stage, Chastain held about a 1-second lead over Burton while Moffitt ran third.

On Lap 23, Austin Hill, the pole-winner, went to the garage with problems with his clutch.

Chastain elected to make a green-flag pit stop on Lap 27 allowing Burton to inherit the lead for the first time in the race.

Stage 1

Chastain easily held off Sheldon Creed to take the win in the 15-lap Stage 1 which was marred with two early cautions for accidents.

Burton was third, Hill was fourth and Moffitt completed the top-five.

Hill started on the pole but Stewart Friesen made a three-wide move, got loose and spun entering Turn 1 on the first lap, hitting the wall and making contact with Anthony Alfredo.

Once the caution was displayed, Chastain emerged as the leader. The race returned to green on Lap 6.

On the restart, Bryan Dauzat spun in Turn 1 and hit the wall as well, again bringing out a caution. Chastain still led the way on the restart on Lap 9.

With five laps remaining in the first stage, Chastain had about a 1-second lead over Creed with Burton in third.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	45	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	60		54
2	17	Tyler Ankrum	Toyota	60	1.007
3	18	Harrison Burton	Toyota	60	2.352	6
4	51	Christian Eckes	Toyota	60	6.005
5	24	Brett Moffitt	Chevrolet	60	9.322
6	88	Matt Crafton	Ford	60	12.354
7	4	Todd Gilliland	Toyota	60	13.165
8	13	Johnny Sauter	Ford	60	18.155
9	99	Ben Rhodes	Ford	60	19.008
10	98	Grant Enfinger	Ford	60	19.629
11	02	Tyler Dippel	Chevrolet	60	20.436
12	8	Anthony Mrakovich	Chevrolet	60	21.583
13	3	Jordan Anderson	Chevrolet	60	22.051
14	12	Gus Dean	Chevrolet	60	24.501
15	22	Austin Wayne Self	Chevrolet	60	31.508
16	54	Natalie Decker	Toyota	60	32.621
17	34	Mason Massey	Toyota	60	56.862
18	20	Spencer Boyd	Chevrolet	60	57.136
19	49	Ray Ciccarelli	Chevrolet	59	1 lap
20	33	Josh Reaume	Chevrolet	59	1 lap
21	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Chevrolet	59	1 lap
22	6	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	58	2 laps
23	44	Bayley Currey	Chevrolet	58	2 laps
24	28	Bryan Dauzat	Chevrolet	58	2 laps
25	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	56	4 laps
26	38	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	33	27 laps
27	32	Bryant Barnhill	Chevrolet	26	34 laps
28	87	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	24	36 laps
29		Daniel Sasnett	Chevrolet	21	39 laps
30	16	Austin Hill	Toyota	21	39 laps	1
31	15	Anthony Alfredo	Toyota	2	58 laps
32	52	Stewart Friesen	Chevrolet		60 laps