Ross Chastain took advantage of a caution flag with just a few laps remaining to surge into the lead on an overtime restart and capture the victory in Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports in a one-off truck start, passed Ty Majeski for the lead on the final restart on lap 149 of 150 and then held off a charging Nick Sanchez over the last two laps to secure his fifth career truck win and first of the 2024 season.

“We’ve been trying to win at Darlington,” said an elated Chastain after the race. “This is where my career changed, my life changed forever. It’s so cool – we won Darlington.”

It was indeed a breakthrough moment for Chastain at the track “Too Tough to Tame” back in 2018 when he swept the first two stages of an Xfinity Series race, showing his talent before eventually crashing out. That performance helped launch his NASCAR career.

This time, Chastain closed the deal at Darlington, beating Sanchez by 0.315 seconds. Defending series champion Ben Rhodes finished third, followed by Christian Eckes and Majeski, who faded to fifth after restarting on the outside.

Pole sitter Sanchez had to start at the rear after a pre-race issue, making his charge to second even more impressive. But he couldn’t quite run down Chastain over the final two laps.

Majeski rued his lane choice on the final restart, saying “I should have taken the inside. It sucks when you’re in position to win with a truck like that.”

Earlier race leader Corey Heim’s strong run ended when he was collected in a multi-truck accident on lap 97 that also eliminated Rajah Caruth, Matt Crafton, and Layne Riggs. That wreck allowed Majeski to inherit the lead.

Kyle Busch, making his first truck start at Darlington, crashed out after just 6 laps to finish last – the first time that’s happened to him in a Truck race during his decorated career.

The event was delayed roughly three hours by rain, adding to the wild night at the track “Too Tough to Tame.” But in the end, it was Ross Chastain celebrating another memorable Darlington moment by taking the checkered flag.