Chastain wins rain-shortened O'Reilly Series race at Charlotte

Ross Chastain drove through a succession of challenges — including a patch of oil and a brush with the outside wall — to win Saturday night’s rain-shortened Charbroil 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The victory was Chastain’s first in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series since 2019, first at Charlotte, and third of his career. The race was stopped for rain for the second time after Chastain crossed the finish line to win the second stage on lap 90.

With no hope of continuing, NASCAR called the race after lap 91 and declared Chastain the winner.

“I did not think we would win one like this, driving into the fence in liquid,” said Chastain, who was driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. “I have no idea what it was. I went into Turn 1 like normal, and there was something on the track.

“No matter how we win, I feel like we could have raced with them again at the end.”

Chastain’s thoughts quickly turned to the absence of champion driver Kyle Busch, who lost his life to a sudden illness on Thursday at age 41.

“This weekend, it’s just incredible trying to grasp losing Kyle,” Chastain said. “I don’t understand how he’s not here racing. I don’t grasp it mentally or spiritually.

“Obviously, racing is the best thing we can to celebrate what he did in the sport and in his life.”

Defending O’Reilly Series champion Jesse Love, who drives for Richard Childress Racing — as did Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series — was second when the race was called.

“If this week taught us anything, it’s that all this doesn’t matter as much as we think it does,” Love said. “As much as I’m angry and confused and upset [about the way the race finished], I also realized there’s a lot of hurt people right now.”

A spate of cautions punctuated the second stage of the race after a rain delay of more than four hours, but the real damage came on lap 73, when the drivers of eight cars — including Chastain — slid through fluid deposited by the No. 35 Chevrolet of Dawson Cram.

Chastain's kept his car on the track with seemingly minimal damage. Other drivers weren't as fortunate.

Victims of the oily track included series leader Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray and Jeremy Clements. Allgaier stayed on the lead lap after repeated trips to pit road for repairs but finished 29th as the final 18 laps of the race remained under caution, thanks to drizzling rain and mist that wet the track and obscured spotters’ views from the top of the grandstand.

Austin Hill, Love’s RCR teammate, finished third, followed by William Sawalich and Corey Day. Connor Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, Carson Kvapil and Rajah Caruth completed the top 10, as JR Motorsports placed three drivers in the top 10.

Rain slowed the race twice in the first 33 laps, the first time for a drizzle under caution for Harrison Burton’s spin in Turn 4, the second time for a harder rain that fell after NASCAR called a competition caution on lap 26.

The rain persisted while the cars circulated under the yellow flag for seven more laps, with Allgaier in the lead behind the pace car. Ultimately, NASCAR red-flagged the race after lap 33, and the cars sat covered on pit road waiting for a resumption.

At 9:45 p.m. NASCAR called the drivers back to their cars, and the race resumed with eight laps left in Stage 1 after a stoppage of 4 hours, 21 minutes, 58 seconds.

On lap 42, Allgaier got loose over the bumps in Turn 3 and gave up the lead to Zilisch, who took the green-checkered flag as the stage winner three laps later.

Then came the decisive second stage, fraught with all its perils. And after it was over, Chastain took a bow, mimicking Busch’s signature move, before making his own familiar move—a watermelon smash—from the roof of his car.

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