Taking four new tires on his final stop, Chastain nearly ran down eventual winner Martin Truex Jr. – who took two – over the final seven laps but came up just short in Monday’s rain-delayed race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.
While Chastain’s back-and-forth battles for the lead first with William Byron and then Truex left the outcome in doubt, Chastain again found himself the target of criticism for an early-move incident that ruined the races of Brennan Poole and Kyle Larson.
As Chastain was racing to the front in the first stage, he plowed into the back of the lapped car of Poole on Lap 81 of 400. On the replay, it showed Poole may have slowed some with then-leader Byron ahead of him.
Poole’s No. 51 Ford shot up the track from the contact and into the path of Larson, who was among the fastest cars on the track at the time.
Poole’s race was immediately over while Larson went to the garage for repairs. He returned to the track and finished 32nd.
Poole said he didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver as he was racin …