In a gamble, Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet team elected to take just two new tires when the field pit under a late-race caution for a wreck involving Corey LaJoie.
Chastain came off pit road second behind Kyle Larson, who had dominated the race and took four new tires.
On the restart with 27 of 267 laps remaining, Chastain battled side-by-side with Larson in an attempt to grab the lead and follow up his teammate Daniel Suarez’s win at Atlanta with one of his own.
But after nearly three laps, Larson finally cleared Chastain and ultimately held off a charging Tyler Reddick for the race win.
Despite the tough battle with Larson, Chastain was able to salvage a fourth-place finish – surrounded by teams that had taken four tires on their final stop.
Overcoming adversity
It was solid rebound from a race that included Chastain having to start the race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and being penalized once for speeding on pit road.
“This speed. I mean the handling of the car is incredible for our (car). It’s everything that I wanted, dream about, and wake up and train for is to drive cars like this,” Chastain said. “That’s what makes it hurt so much worse.
‘When we finish fourth and we were legitimately an eighth-place car, it’s something we’re high-fiving. You all have seen me in my career, I’d jump up and down for a fourth-place finish.
“When I have a car capable of fighting for the win, and I take ourselves out, that’s what I can get down about right now, but excited about because I know how good the car was and how much speed it has.”
The speeding issue was a particularly aggravating one for Chastain, as he has now been caught speeding on pit road in each of the season’s first three races.
Chastain’s advice?
“Don’t speed on pit road. It’s unacceptable,” he said. “Our car was strong enough to run with Kyle and Tyler; I just can’t believe I did it three weeks in a row.”
Chastain remains fifth in the series standings, 20 points behind Larson. Suarez is eighth.