Ross Chastain has perfect response after NASCAR hands down North Wilkesboro penalty

NASCAR assessed penalties to three drivers ahead of qualifying, which was cancelled due to rain on Saturday. Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch, and Austin Hill were all penalized for Sunday’s Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro. Both Austin Hill and Connor Zilisch failed inspection twice. They will both lose pit selections and have a crew member ejected. Ross Chastain failed three times. He will have a drive-thru penalty as well as losing pit selection and having a crew member ejected. While qualifying was canceled, NASCAR did hold a 50-minute practice session. During the session, Ross Chastain was the third fastest, behind Christopher Bell and Danny Hamlin. Following the practice, Mamba Smith asked Chastain about starting ‘out back.’ Chastain was happy with his car “Out back?” joked Chastain. “I think I’m starting in Statesville when we take the green. That’s whole ‘nother thing [for the race] and executing through that penalty. “But for practice here, we fired off really good. Probably better than I realize. And I pitted after 12 or so laps because I was building pretty loose on throttle. You know, as a racecar driver, when it starts slipping more each lap, I’m like, ‘Okay, I need to stop and work on this Busch Light Chevy. I probably should’ve kept on running there.” Chastain took the risk For Saturday’s 50-minute practice session, NASCAR allotted teams two sets of tires. Many used a single set to preserve an extra set for Sunday’s 450-lap race. Chastain used both. The reward of finding grip was more important than having the extra set. “We went ahead and bolted the set [of tires] late in practice, because we just got to keep working. When we can get on track, we’ve got to put laps on track. “And burning a set today, if that bites us tomorrow, I’ll fall on that sword any day. Because we need some more grips in these cars.” Chastain enters Sunday’s race at 20th in the points standings. He’s 35 points below the cut line with six races to go in the regular season. How to watch Window World 450 On Sunday, July 19, NASCAR makes its return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the Window World 450. This will be Round 4 of the In-Season Challenge, starting at 7 p.m. ET on TNT. Sunday’s race marks the first Cup Series points race at the historic track in 30 years. The last Cup points series race run at the track was September 29, 1996. That race was won by Jeff Gordon.