Bad luck in Las Vegas for Chastain and Blaney

Ross Chastain (@RossChastain), driver of the No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150, made his 10th start for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) and his second start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday night during the Smith's 350, after qualifying 11th earlier in the day.

Chastain got off to a hot start in his Draw-Tite Ford and made his way up to the seventh position as he entered pit road on lap 14 under caution. Crew chief, Chad Kendrick brought the No. 19 BKR Ford to pit road for fuel only, which moved Chastain up to the third position on the following restart.

Chastain powered his way to the lead on lap 38 after making a bold move getting there.

Bad luck struck the No. 19 BKR team on lap 47, while under caution, Chastain came to pit road for tires and fuel, but got stuck in his pit stall behind the No. 31. Ultimately, this cost Chastain 15 spots as he exited pit road in the 15th position.

Chastain made his third pit stop of the race on lap 62, while under caution, for a track bar adjustment and fuel, because his F-150 was becoming too loose to drive, according to the BKR driver. He entered pit road 14th and exited 16th.

A second dose of bad luck struck on lap 74 when Chastain was on pit road for fuel and two tires, he was docked for speeding and had to make a pass-through penalty dropping him all the way back to 23rd position.

It was an uphill battle for the No. 19 team from that point forward and track position was slipping ever so slowly after having a top five Truck all night. The BKR team just couldn't catch a break and ended up finishing ­­­­­­­20th.

The No. 19 BKR team currently sits fifth in the NCWTS owner points standings, 56 points back from first.

"It was certainly a frustrating night for all of us on the No. 19 Draw-Tite team. We made adjustments and got up front, but just couldn't overcome the small things tonight in order to go to victory lane. We will go back to drawing board and get ready for Talladega in a few weeks." - Ross Chastain

Ryan Blaney (@RyanBlaney22), driver of the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150, made his first career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' (NCWTS) Smith's 350 Saturday night after qualifying 15th.

When the first caution came out on lap 13, Blaney was directed by crew chief, Doug Randolph, to bring his Cooper Standard Ford to pit road for a track bar adjustment, fuel and right side tires.

When the third caution of the night came out on lap 47 for a spin in turn four, Randolph brought Blaney to pit road for a second time, changing left side tires, fuel and pulling tape off the grill to help cool the engine. Blaney entered pit road in the eighth position and exited six spots up in the second position once the green flag fell on lap 51.

The No. 24 wrecked in turn two and brought out another caution on lap 60. Unfortunately, Blaney was having temperature issues, while running second, and had to make an unscheduled pit stop to have more tape removed from his F-150 grill. After the exchange, Blaney dropped back to 13th position.

On lap 82, Blaney had made his way into the first position and built a solid cushion on the second place No. 62, who was five Truck lengths back. It was short stint for Blaney in the first position as another caution fell on lap 91 for a spin coming out of turn four. Blaney led the field to pit road and loaded up on fuel and four fresh tires before restarting 12th with 51 to go.

Under green on lap 127, Blaney came on the radio saying he thought a tire was going down. From that point forward it was a struggle for the Cooper Standard team as track position diminished for the BKR team. Blaney finished in the 20th position after having a capable top five Truck.

The No. 29 BKR team currently sits seventh in the NCWTS driver points standings, 92 points back from first.

"What a disappointing night for all of the Cooper Standard guys. We had a very good Truck, but had too much bad luck for us to sustain a top five finish. I'm really excited about racing at Talladega in a few weeks." - Ryan Blaney

BKR