By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
It may have not been for the race win or even a top-10 finish, but the battle between Ross Chastain and Matt Tifft spiced up the final laps Saturday at Dover International Speedway.
Running for the final transfer spot into the Round of 8 of the XFINITY Series playoffs, it came down to the smallest of point margins as they raced inside the top 15.
When the race hit the checkered at on lap 200, Chastain was three points back of Tifft, as the No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet only managed to finish 13th to Tifft’s 15th.
For Chastain, the advancement was hurt by multiple mistakes prior to the final restart.
“Too many mistakes on my part,” Chastain said. “I sped on pit road, probably cost us there. I didn’t think I was close but I was, obviously, over. We did our jobs, though. We came here and did what we needed to do to make it. We ran considerably better than what we could have.”
Running behind Tifft’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy with 21 laps to go, Chastain gave the bump-and-run to Tifft, sliding him into Chase Briscoe to bring out a caution. After an intense fight in the top 15, Chastain was unapologetic for how he raced.
“Everybody on the track wants me to get out of the way because we’re not supposed to race,” he said. “I bring my friends with me. [Tifft] runs into me after the race, it’s all good. My owner won’t be happy about it. It’s just racing. I love it. I love we can come out to Dover and got our car good enough at the end.
“They should be mad because the No. 4 car outran the No. 2 car and we’ve done that a lot this year. That’s really cool for me and Johnny Davis. We are not sorry about that at all.”
Ending his playoff time on Saturday, Chastain has relished in his opportunities in 2018, a season highlighted by a three-race stint for Chip Ganassi Racing that saw him win at Las Vegas last month.
“There is so much more I can do inside this racecar,” he said. “A lot of these guys think they’re the best thing ever and we’re not. We’re in NASCAR, but a lot of guys get a false sense of security.
“It’s still so cool. I did not expect this starting off the year. I felt 13th was our spot. Then we were 11th straight-up on No. 4 car points. It was really cool. It’s something I’ll never forget. Seasons like this are the good ones.”