Ross Chastain races to 1st NASCAR Trucks victory
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Ross Chastain raced to his first NASCAR Trucks victory Friday night after leader Stewart Friesen ran out of gas with three laps to go at Kansas Speedway.
"This is what sports is all about — comebacks man," Chastain said after leading just five laps.
Friesen took the first two stages for the first time this season, but a costly mistake of leaving the pit box early with 42 laps to go left him without enough gas. He held the lead after a restart with 16 laps to go and led a race-high 87 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval, but ended up 15th.
"We just can't close it," said Friesen, who was seeking his first Trucks win after five runner-up finishes. "I didn't know we were taking four (tires). I thought for sure we were taking two. Just a lot of silence on the radio. That's it."
The winner of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race last year in Vas Vegas, Chastain topped Ben Rhodes by 0.483 seconds.
Todd Gilliland was third, followed by Austin Hill and Brandon Jones and two-time Kansas winner Matt Crafton. Johnny Sauter, coming off a victory at Dover, was forced to the garage after his 20th lap because of mechanical woes and came back to complete 97 laps.
