BROOKLYN, Mich. – Ross Chastain’s mission to end the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series regular season on a high note continued Saturday morning during qualifying at Michigan Int’l Speedway.
Chastain took the pole for the LTi Printing 250 at the two-mile oval, turning a lap of 39.179 seconds (183.772 mph) with his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado.
The pole marked the third of Chastain’s Gander Trucks career, his first at Michigan and first since 2013, when the Alva, Fla., native was still with Brad Keselowski Racing.
Chastain will chase his fourth win of the season during the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon.
“I said this morning that I had a lot of confidence, and this team is rolling down the hill like a watermelon rolls down a hill; we’re only gaining momentum,” quipped Chastain. “I’m super proud of all these Niece boys and girls. Al Niece gives us all the tools we need to be successful, even though it’s not always easy. This morning, I was just the guy that got to hold the wheel.
“It scared me a little bit, because I think the throttle did get hung a little bit, but there’s raw speed in the race truck and we got the pole by that much … so that’s all that matters.”
New York teenager Christian Eckes will join Chastain on the front row after touring the two-mile Michigan oval in 39.187 seconds (183.734 mph) with his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra.
Playoff driver Tyler Ankrum rolls off third alongside playoff hopeful Todd Gilliland, with a third KBM driver in Harrison Burton following that duo in the fifth position.
Austin Hill, Ben Rhodes, Brett Moffitt, Grant Enfinger and Joe Nemechek completed the top 10.
The LTi Printing 250 takes the green flag at 1 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; Michigan Int’l Speedway; Aug. 10, 2019
- #45 – Ross Chastain, 39.179 seconds (183.772 mph)
- #51 – Christian Eckes, 39.187 seconds (183.734 mph)
- #17 – Tyler Ankrum, 39.251 seconds (183.435 mph)
- #4 – Todd Gilliland, 39.287 seconds (183.267 mph)
- #18 – Harrison Burton, 39.299 seconds (183.211 mph)
- #16 – Austin Hill, 39.324 seconds (183.094 mph)
- #99 – Ben Rhodes, 39.332 seconds (183.057 mph)
- #24 – Brett Moffitt, 39.345 seconds (182.997 mph)
- #98 – Grant Enfinger, 39.378 seconds (182.843 mph)
- #8 – Joe Nemechek, 39.380 seconds (182.834 mph)
- #44 – Bayley Currey, 39.438 seconds (182.565 mph)
- #88 – Matt Crafton, 39.459 seconds (182.468 mph)
- #3 – Jordan Anderson, 39.493 seconds (182.311 mph)
- #13 – Johnny Sauter, 39.523 seconds (182.172 mph)
- #04 – Cory Roper, 39.558 seconds (182.011 mph)
- #54 – Natalie Decker, 39.578 seconds (181.919 mph)
- #02 – Tyler Dippel, 39.597 seconds (181.832 mph)
- #2 – Sheldon Creed, 39.601 seconds (181.814 mph)
- #15 – Anthony Alfredo, 39.620 seconds (181.726 mph)
- #52 – Stewart Friesen, 39.622 seconds (181.717 mph)
- #9 – Codie Rohrbaugh, 39.706 seconds (181.333 mph)
- #12 – Gus Dean, 39.754 seconds (181.114 mph)
- #22 – Austin Wayne Self, 39.801 seconds (180.900 mph)
- #14 – Trey Hutchens III, 39.947 seconds (180.239 mph)
- #87 – Camden Murphy, 40.068 seconds (179.695 mph)
- #38 – T.J. Bell, 40.324 seconds (178.554 mph)
- #20 – Spencer Boyd, 40.400 seconds (178.218 mph)
- #34 – Jesse Iwuji, 40.844 seconds (176.280 mph)
- #33 – Josh Reaume, 40.987 seconds (175.665 mph)
- #49 – Ray Ciccarelli, 41.163 seconds (174.914 mph)
- #10 – Jennifer Jo Cobb, 43.238 seconds (166.520 mph)
- #6 – Norm Benning, NT (0.000 mph)
DNQ: #0 – Daniel Sasnett.