Ross Chastain - North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Race Preview
Event: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (134 laps / 201 miles)
Round: 10 of 25 (Regular Season)
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Location: Concord, North Carolina
Date & Time: Friday, May 22 | 7:30 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | NASCAR Racing Network (NRN) | SiriusXM Ch. 90
Team Stats & Notes
- Niece Motorsports Charlotte Stats:
NCTS Starts: 26; Wins: 1 (Ross Chastain, 2022) Top-Fives: 7; Top-10s: 10.
- Road Tripping: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain look to run a marathon weekend in Charlotte. Stenhouse Jr. hopes to complete 800 miles between Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 and Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, while Chastain aims for a staggering 1100 miles in a triple-duty NCTS-NOAPS-NCS weekend.
- School Days: Niece Motorsports drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Connor Hall visited Park View Elementary School on Monday to read books to kindergarten, first, and second grade children. On Tuesday, Tyler Reif, Conner Jones, and Parker Eatmon visited East Mooresville Intermediate School to read to third, fourth, and fifth-graders. The team transported a race truck and hauler to the school to give the children an up-close look into their office on wheels.
No. 45 Protect Your Melon North Carolina Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Ross Chastain | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
- Chastain’s Charlotte Stats:
NCS Starts: 8; Wins: 1 (2025); Top-10s: 2.
NOAPS Starts: 11; Poles: 1 (2020); Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 1; Best Finish: 4th (2020).
NCTS Starts: 7; Wins: 1 (2022); Top-Fives: 2; Top-10s: 4.
- Gould's Charlotte Stats:
NOAPS Starts: 11; Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 4; Best Finish: 4th (2014).
NCTS Starts: 7; Top-Fives: 3; Top-10s: 6; Best Finish: 2nd (2021).
- On the Truck: Chastain’s No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from the North Carolina Governor’s Office of Highway Safety which promotes the Protect Your Melon campaign. His truck will sport a patriotic paint scheme in honor of Memorial Day weekend.
- Recapping Dover: Ross Chastain and the Drive Sober Arrive Alive DE team had a shot at the win in Dover, but the strategy did not play out how they had hoped it would. Chastain qualified inside the top-10 and climbed into the top-five for both stages before taking the lead. The No. 45 team was out front for 49 laps, and elected to save a set of tires for late in the race in hopes of a caution. Unfortunately, the yellow flag never flew and Chastain needed to pit under green late in the going. He crossed the line in 18th-place.
- Owner Points Outlook: Chastain’s 18th-place finish at Dover kept the No. 45 team in sixth-place in the owner point standings. Entering Charlotte, the team is eight points behind TRICON Garage’s No. 1 team in fifth, and 10 points ahead of TRICON Garage’s No. 17 team in seventh. The team has a 41-point gap over the current Chase cutline.
- Trackhouse Fan Day: Chastain will make an appearance at the Trackhouse Racing Fan Day on Friday at the team’s headquarters. The event runs from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM local time at 8500 Westmoreland Drive NW, Concord, NC 28027.
- Quoting Chastain: Your team has had a lot of success in recent years at Charlotte, so what are you looking for to keep that going this weekend?
“We are looking to keep building on what we’ve had the past couple of years. We have been fast with Phil (Gould) and Wally (Rogers), but just need a little bit more to stay ahead of everybody. We haven’t won every race, but have been pretty fast. I’m confident that we should have a good Protect Your Melon Chevy to go out there and contend on Friday night.”
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 North Carolina Governor's Office of Highway Safety: Dedicated to reducing the numbers of traffic crashes and fatalities in North Carolina, the Governor’s Highway Safety Program promotes efforts to reduce traffic crashes in North Carolina and promotes highway safety awareness through a variety of grants and safe-driving initiatives.
