Ross Chastain’s runner-up finish turns into Dash 4 Cash payday

Ross Chastain came .299 seconds short of the checkered flag Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, but the driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet still left the Alabama track a winner. Thanks to his runner-up finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Unhinged 300 behind teammate Justin Haley, Chastain took home the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize money. He was the highest finisher among his race-within-a-race competitors: AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Chase Briscoe. Chastain led a race-high 24 of 113 laps around the 2.66-mile circuit. He was fourth and fifth, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. RELATED: Justin Haley wins first NASCAR Xfinity Series race “The almighty dollar still wins in the world, so it’ll go a long way," Chastain said. "It doesn’t all go to me. No driver gets all of it. Don’t let anybody fool you. But everybody gets bonuses on the team. It helps the whole program. It makes the bad days a little easier." Allmendinger won last weekend's Dash 4 Cash bonus at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished Talladega seventh despite spending the first two stages toward the back of the pack. He was 23rd in Stage 1 and 25th in Stage 2. Allmendinger, who drew a 34th starting spot, had to drop to the rear prior to the green flag because his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times. Jones came in 16th at Talladega with his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He got caught up in the race's final crash along with 10 other cars on Lap 106 after placing fifth and eighth in the first two stages. Chase Briscoe was third in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and led 15 laps overall, but he ended up 18th at Talladega after getting involved in a multi-car wreck in the final stage. His No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford got tangled up with Riley Herbst, Brett Moffitt and Joe Graf Jr. on the frontstretch of Lap 78, drawing the first on-track caution. There’s one event left in the Dash 4 Cash program: June 28 at Pocono Raceway (12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Haley, Chastain, Austin Cindric (fourth) and Alex Labbe (ninth) will be racing for the last $100,000 check. RELATED: Learn all about the Dash 4 Cash program