Trackhouse left Auto Club Speedway wondering what could have been after Daniel Suarez nearly captured the checkered flag after taking the lead on the final restart. Suarez promised that Trackhouse would win “a few races” this year, and just one week later, they were contenders yet again.
Following Suarez’s top-five finish in California, it was Chastain’s turn in Las Vegas. He led a race-high 83 laps, which is more laps than he has led in his previous 117 starts. He also scored his first stage win and ultimately finished third — his fourth top-five result in the last ten months.
“Dream come true,” Chastain told FOX. “This is what all the work is for. This is why we train, done our whole lives and careers, once we realize we can race at this level is to have race cars like that. Couldn’t be more proud of Trackhouse, having ACM on the car, be able to go over and hang out now tomorrow night.
“It took a lot of patience inside the car from our fast racing. It’s tough for me to not get too aggressive, a lot of neutral thinking, and Josh Wise, and a book by Trevor Moawad (a renowned mental conditioning expert and strategic advisor to some of the world’s most elite performers) really helped me today. That’s progress.”
After on-track incidents in the first two races put him rather deep in the standings, Sunday’s performance rocketed him up from 35th to 20th in points.