Ross Chastain - Allegiance 200 Race Recap
Event: Allegiance 200 (150 laps / 199.5 miles)
Round: 11 of 25 (Regular Season)
Track: Nashville Superspeedway
Location: Lebanon, TN
Date & Time: Friday, May 29 | 8:00 PM ET
No. 45 Use Your Melon Tennessee Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Ross Chastain | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Start: 21st | Stage 1: 16th | Stage 2: 10th
Finish: 4th | Driver Points: N/A | Owner Points: 8th
- Key Takeaway: Ross Chastain and the Use Your Melon Tennessee team contended for the win in Nashville. Despite having to start 21st due to the metric lineup, Chastain went to work on gaining track position early on. Noting that his truck handled tight, the No. 45 team made several adjustments to help Chastain’s balance in the opening two stages. By the time the final stage began, the team took advantage of cleaner air to maneuver to the front row. A strategy call put his truck in a favorable position, and Chastain was able to capitalize on a fourth-place finish.
- Ross Chastain’s Post-Race Thoughts:
Interviewer: Ross Chastain, you were in that crazy battle for fuel, what were those closing laps like from your perspective?
“Hanging on, for us on our Use Your Melon Chevy. Yeah, not the pace that we needed to compete with Raj (Rajah Caruth) who was on equal tires. We’ve been too tight all day. Phil Gould freed it up, and then it was really loose firing off with full fuel. It was good because it was right for most of the run, but I couldn’t compete with him. We lost clean air, which, I couldn’t have held him off anyway. The No. 7 was straight up better, and the other two aren’t even trucks. Those must be cars. I don’t know what they are, but they are definitely not what Raj and I are driving, so it was definitely like bringing a knife to a gun fight tonight.”
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is a professional auto racing team that has competed in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series since 2016. The team is owned by Josh Morris of DQS Solutions and Staffing and the Fowler Family of J.F. Electric and Utilitra, and was founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. At its 80,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Salisbury, NC, Niece Motorsports is a full-service race vehicle build shop as well as a customizable fabrication shop for any manufacturing needs.
Follow the Team: To keep up to date with the latest team news, visit niecemotorsports.com or connect on Facebook and Instagram (@NieceMotorsports) as well as X (@NieceMotorsport).
About the Tennessee Highway Safety Office: The Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) is a division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security advocating for traffic safety. The THSO works in tandem with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to implement statewide programs addressing occupant protection, impaired driving, speed enforcement, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and crash data collection and analysis. Programs administered by the THSO are 100 percent federally funded. The THSO’s mission is to effectively develop, implement, and evaluate these programs. To learn more, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.
