Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Ross Chastain laments ‘unacceptable’ pit-road penalty at Las Vegas

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Geetansh Pasricha | Last updated 3/4/24

The race in Las Vegas seemed pretty uneventful for most of the part as Kyle Larson sailed to victory after dominating the weekend. On the contrary, Ross Chastain finished P4 and led the race at one point. The Trackhouse driver’s penalty for speeding in the pitlane was the main culprit in destroying his race, and the 31-year-old has now reflected on his sorrowful state of affairs.

Larson had dominated the first two stages of the race and led around 180 of the 230 laps. However, with a late-race caution due to a wreck, Chastain dived into the pits and bolted fresh rubber for only two of his tires. This brave strategy call leapfrogged him ahead of the field initially but later brought him down also.

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. That’s what makes it hurt so much worse. Don’t speed on pit road. It’s unacceptable. Ross Chastain said, as reported by motorsport.com.

The Florida native said that he knew that the car had pace as last week his teammate Daniel Suarez had won the race in Atlanta in an epic photo finish. Moreover, the 31-year-old was in contention for the top spots. However, with an unfortunate speeding penalty, Chastain was only left with the option of implying bold strategies to make a bid for the win. As we all know this bid didn’t work out for him and the Trackhouse driver finished fourth in the end.

Ross Chastain started from the rear of the pack in Las Vegas

Chastain had high ambitions for the race in the Sin City but only managed to qualify 20^th overall. However, this penalty for him worsened even more as he was later disqualified from the session as the wrap on his car was peeling off and started to fly off.

The rules state that any such part of the car should not be suspended in the air. Moreover, the flickering of his wrap was deemed as an unapproved adjustment by NASCAR and saw him relegated to the back of the pack.

Furthermore, Ryan Preece and Justin Haley were also disqualified along with Chastain. Thus, all the drivers would be looking at the race in Phoenix. Subsequently, Chastain would be working on getting back to winning ways after a winless last season.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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