Made his Monster Energy Series debut today.
He started 36th and finished in 20th position.
That’s a great day and congratulations!
Indeed
With a small budget team no less.Finishing in the top half of the field on a fast track.He had a fast truck Friday night before the battery gremlins raised their heads.I’ve been impressed with him since my very first visit to Punta Gorda Speedway back in 2009.That night he won a 50 lap Pro Truck feature despite being consistently hammered on his back bumper in what looked to be a low budget truck.Congrats for sure.
Totally serious question, is this Cup now? Congrats!
Yes sir it is
Elmer
Did you hear during the broadcast or pre/post race if they mentioned they had plans for any other Cup races this season?
Yes
I heard they have sponsorship for 2 more races.
Good
It gives me a little reason to have some interest in the Cup Series this year.
Bubba Wallace is moving to the #43 to replace Aric Almirola until Aric is recovered from his injuries… Great move by RP Motorsports and a good deal for Bubba because Roush is shutting down the #6 Xfinity team after Pocono due to lack of sponsorship… Bubba gats his chance, so let’s see what he can do with it… One of the best personalities in NASCAR right now…
I read that Joe Gibbs has signed Ryan Preece to run in Xfinity next year.I don’t have one thing against Ryan Preece but I’m pretty sure if you look at how he and Ross Chastain ran at common tracks last year you will find out Chastain finished higher at most and I know he finished higher overall in points at the end of the year
And the cars they ran came out of the same team.I think Gibbs should go back and re-watch some races from last year.
[QUOTE=zerofor;175209]I read that Joe Gibbs has signed Ryan Preece to run in Xfinity next year.I don’t have one thing against Ryan Preece but I’m pretty sure if you look at how he and Ross Chastain ran at common tracks last year you will find out Chastain finished higher at most and I know he finished higher overall in points at the end of the year
And the cars they ran came out of the same team.I think Gibbs should go back and re-watch some races from last year.[/QUOTE]
Ross by far runs the best out of the 3 cars from that sub par stable of cars. It’s probably daddy’s money that got Ryan Preece that ride.
I was just checking the results for the two from last year.Ross definitely held the edge in overall better finishes last year.It was kind of unreal how many times they finished only two or three spots apart.I thought Preece missed a few dates for tour modified races last year but I was wrong about that they both ran the full Xfinity schedule in 2016.At years end they finished right next to each other with Chastain one position higher.
Daddy’s money huh?
Does anybody know what Ross Chastain does for work? Does he have a full time job setting up, repairing and completely maintaining a fleet of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and SK Modified cars? Cars that he races and wins in on a regular basis? Cars that are owned by someone other than his family that are paid for by people other than his family? Does anybody know if he actually works on his Xfinity car behind the scenes? Does anybody know if he busts his ass to get his own sponsors outside of his family business and generate exposure for himself and his team without the aid of a dedicated PR Rep?
Eat that watermelon, eat that watermelon, eat that watermelon… SURE IS GOOD!
I can’t say you guys are being homers, because I am too lol
I’m pretty sure you won’t get too many potential sponsor reps come out in the field and pick watermelons with you while you talk to them in the Southwest Florida heat lol.I can see that being a bit of a challenge.I don’t know who’s money either one is running on since I’m pretty sure it’s not their own.Both came out of the same also ran Xfinity series stable of Johnny Davis.Preece has the benefit of a resume built on Modified wins.Chastain won some races locally but doesn’t have the traveling tour series wins.But head to head in like equipment last year Chastain held a decisive edge in better finishes.On the three road courses Chastain once again held the edge finishing ahead of Preece twice.Preece recorded the sole top ten finish between the pair,a ninth,while Chastain’s best finish was an eleventh. At the end of the day Chastain held the statistical edge throughout the year.Now boys and girls reading this let this be a lesson to you.While I believe Chastain is the better talent between the two,he jumped up into Xfinity too soon.If he would have stayed in the truck series and bagged a few wins before making the move up that could have been him Gibbs hired.When a guy puts you in a top flight car he wants to know you have won in something recently.Not just finished fifteenth in an underfunded car.You need those wins in SOMETHING. And you need them to be recent.
You really think Chastain has more talent than Preece?
That’s one hell of a stretch to say that a guy who won a couple times in Florida Trucks, is better than a guy who regularly wins on the Modified Tour…
Daddy’s money got one of them their ride, and it isn’t Preece.
Ryan has a great network of sponsors that believe in his talent and are willing to put their support behind him. He stepped back from NASCAR because he knew that team wasn’t capable of winning, and that winning is the only way to get the attention of owners whose cars ARE capable of winning.
Ross is a pay-to-play racer… Ryan is a hired, paid professional.
Zero comparison on talent levels.
[QUOTE=Frasson118;175216]You really think Chastain has more talent than Preece?
That’s one hell of a stretch to say that a guy who won a couple times in Florida Trucks, is better than a guy who regularly wins on the Modified Tour…
Daddy’s money got one of them their ride, and it isn’t Preece.
Ryan has a great network of sponsors that believe in his talent and are willing to put their support behind him. He stepped back from NASCAR because he knew that team wasn’t capable of winning, and that winning is the only way to get the attention of owners whose cars ARE capable of winning.
Ross is a pay-to-play racer… Ryan is a hired, paid professional.
Zero comparison on talent levels.[/QUOTE]
Yes,I really do feel that he MAY be the better talent.And I don’t really think daddy’s money got either one anything more than a local track ride.Preece has the tour modified wins and there’s no denying that.Chastain had some very good finishes in the NASCAR Trucks including multiple podium finishes before he decided to make the jump to Xfinity.Unfortunately what he didn’t lock down was any wins and that is what his first objective should have been before trying to keep climbing up the ladder.If Joe Gibbs would have compared the two and seen modified wins versus Truck Series wins,I don’t think he’s taking the guy with the modified wins.But end of story you really need those wins when it’s somebody else’s ride,especially a top flight one.Preece probably did the right thing by stepping back and letting the modified wins speak for him.In this case it helped him go from a middle of the field car to a damn good one.
And you know about the sponsorship money. Some get it and some don’t. I don’t think the amount of sponsor money speaks of talent.I’ve seen a lot of highly sponsored cars that couldn’t race their way out of the hauler.That speaks more to how connected you are rather than talent.
I’ve been on the fence about him not for sure if talent got him to where he is now or NASCAR’s diversity program. But he had a strong run in the Petty car last weekend just missing the top ten.It was good to see for both.Maybe Petty will field a two car team next year and find him some sponsor money. If Roush can’t find sponsor money for him in Xfinity maybe Petty could.
[QUOTE=Frasson118;175216]You really think Chastain has more talent than Preece?
That’s one hell of a stretch to say that a guy who won a couple times in Florida Trucks, is better than a guy who regularly wins on the Modified Tour…
Daddy’s money got one of them their ride, and it isn’t Preece.
Ryan has a great network of sponsors that believe in his talent and are willing to put their support behind him. He stepped back from NASCAR because he knew that team wasn’t capable of winning, and that winning is the only way to get the attention of owners whose cars ARE capable of winning.
Ross is a pay-to-play racer… Ryan is a hired, paid professional.
Zero comparison on talent levels.[/QUOTE]
Just look at their finishes each week. Chastain finishes in front of him pretty much every week, in the same sub par equipment as Preece. The facts are in the results. Yes Chastain’s daddy has a lot of money and Chastain did have a truck ride with Keselowski a few years ago. But that only lasted one season due to lack of sponsorship. I’m not saying he’s the next Richard Petty, but I would like to see him get a chance in top notch equipment.
And what I have seen Chastain race in has never been a top notch ride.When he was racing locally his equipment was fast but sure as hell didn’t look top notch or what I would call state of the art.It mainly looked like something built in the garage out behind the house.When I saw Preece at New Smyrna that car appearance wise looked like a big money car.The only fair comparison between the two is last season racing two cars from the same stable running the same tracks.The road courses are a great equalizer and Chastains finishes there were pretty decisive over Preece there too.I wish Brad would have found him sponsor money to continue in the trucks.He never even got a complete season in that truck since Brad drove it several times that season and Dave Blaney drove it at Eldora.
The Chastain Florida Pro-Truck may have looked underfunded in “appearance” but that was all. I like Ross, watched and called a lot of his Pro-Truck races. Have also covered Preece’s career an equal amount. As someone who lives in Charlotte, works in the sport and has seen a whole different side of this sport I can tell you two things that are Fact…
-
They were not in “equal” equipment despite coming out the same stable. Ross’ car had a full-time team of employees (albeit smaller than the ‘big’ teams) that built, maintained and set up his Xfinity cars. While Ryan did more work on his Own Xfinity car than anyone. And did not have the same “team” support or even base equipment.
-
Ryan did not have any “family sponsorship” that pushed him into and funded his prior Truck experience or backed any of his Xfinity rides.
And now for one Opinion… in true “Equal” equipment, I would take Preece against Chastain any day and against 80% of the other Xfinity drivers in the garage on any given race day.
And please don’t take any of this as a knock on Ross. I really like him as a person and a driver and have been impressed with everything he has done and how far he has gone on the path he has taken. But at the end of the day, Preece’s “talent” combined with his knowledge and ability to work on and set up cars can not be understated.
Just realize that just because two cars roll out of the same garage, they can be far from “equal”. Many of the smaller teams (same thing at BK Racing in Cup) have their “primary” car and one or two “hand me down” just get them on the track, cars. And it has nothing to do with talent on who gets what… it is 100% dependent on what money is brought to sit in which seat. Hell I know drivers that go to the track with the same team… One car brought $1,000,000. in sponsorship and for full team support, full crew, better car, while the other only brought $500k and had to be his own crew chief throughout practice and qualifying and only had an “official” one for the race because NASCAR required it on paper… and that was in Cup just this year. And that is all 100% fact. Same driver got chastised by team for actually “racing” into the top 25 which they felt put the car at too much risk because that car was “built to finish 25th or worse” and the team had no interest in doing better with it because it had a better (funded) car that was there to “carry the team colors”. And the “$500k” car was being driven by a driver who has a dozen KN Wins and a championship, ARCA Wins and a handful of Late Model and Modified wins, while “$1M” seat held a driver with a career best 2nd place KN finish and not a Single win in lower divisions.
I’ll reiterate, I’ve seen a whole different side to this “sport” in the two years I’ve been in Charlotte that would turn most people off to the NASCAR product in the upper three levels for good.