Ross Chastain cuts tire, crashes after leading Coke 600 practice averages

Ross Chastain finished second in Friday night’s NASCAR Truck race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and when the Cup cars went out on the track for Coca-Cola 600 practice, he was again very fast.

Timing in ninth overall on the time sheets, Chastain was showing impressive long-run speed in the No. 1 Chevrolet. He led all drivers in the 10-lap, 15-lap, and 20-lap averages. Unfortunately, after 20 laps on track, disaster struck as he cut a left-rear tire going down the backstretch. The car spun out in Turn 3 and Chastain hit the outside wall with the driver-side door. The car came to a rest on the apron and was towed back to the pit lane. While a cause has yet to be officially determined, being aggressive with extremely low air pressures has caused previous tire issues for other teams this year.

“Just down the backstretch, all of the air came out of it at once,” said Chastain after being released from the infield care center. “I tried to just keep it straight and braked as hard as I could in a straight line. But it was too late. I was okay until I got into the banking and then the whole car got on the ground and around it went.”

Trouble for Kyle Busch

While Chastain was the only driver to suffer an on-track incident during the practice session, another Chevrolet driver never even got on track to begin with. Kyle Busch, who announced a contract extension with Richard Childress Racing on Saturday morning, was the only driver not to run any laps. Busch reported a steering issue and the team scrambled to replace the power steering pump.

Busch was able to get out on track for qualifying, but will likely have to start from the rear of the field due to the changes. Chastain did not and will start 40th (last) for NASCAR’s longest race.

Carson Hocevar led the way in single-lap speeds, driving the No. 77 Spire Motorsport Chevrolet, followed by the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Ty Gibbs and the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of AJ Allmendinger.