Ross Chastain led Trackhouse Racing with a 12th-place finish in Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Saturday night. Teammates Shane van Gisbergen placed 14th and Connor Zilisch finished 25th.
“We were better than what we qualified,” said SVG. “We were making gains on our No. 97 Mitti Chevrolet throughout the race, similar to the front-half of the top-20, maybe better. And then, the strategy put us into the top-15 and gained us a lot, so that was great.
“The line I used during the Truck race seemed to work for us, especially when the tires wore out. I could roll the top and gain quite a few spots. Clean air, as well, seemed to work.”
Van Gisbergen started the 400-lap race 31st but picked off multiple cars after running the top lane and logging top-five lap times. He worked his way to 26th-place before the first pit cycle began.
The No. 97 team pitted on lap 35 and van Gisbergen re-entered the field in 28th position before battling to a 21st-place finish in Stage 1.
The No. 97 team serviced the Mitti Chevrolet at the stage break and van Gisbergen lined up 22nd to start the second stage. The balance faded quickly and the team opted to pit from 23rd position on lap 119.
The first caution of the night flew on lap 126 and trapped van Gisbergen down a lap. The No. 97 team took the wave around and van Gisbergen quickly worked his way to 22nd before pitting again on lap 169.
Van Gisbergen battled his way to a 21st-place stage finish. At the final stage break, crew chief Stephen Doran made the call to stay out to gain track position.
The strategy played in their favor when the caution waved on lap 283 with van Gisbergen in 13th. Van Gisbergen battled inside the top 15 over the final 117 laps and secured a 14th place finish.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action Sunday, August 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
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