Ross Chastain, Daniel Suárez at front of Trackhouse’s search for speed

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Ross Chastain expressed surprising candor after a runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway. After climbing forward from the 31st starting position, the driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet said the Saturday speed of the organization's three cars has been "terrible," leading to poor performance in practice and qualifying sessions. Texas continued that trend, taking the 22nd-fastest car per NASCAR Insights and overcoming to finish second at the checkered flag. For a moment, it seemed progress was made ahead of Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chastain posted the 10th-fastest lap during practice and ranked 11th in 10-lap averages, but qualifying brought back those same lingering concerns after a 26th-place time trial. MORE: Kansas starting lineup | Cup standings Chastain has made a habit of carrying the car to better Sundays after disappointing Saturdays: Despite a 23.5 average starting position, his average finish is a whole 10 spots better at 13.5. The goal, however, is to lessen the Sunday burden by finding better speed to start the weekend. "The Saturday stuff is off-throttle time; the off-throttle time is high," Chastain said Saturday. "So just need to be on the gas more and using the power. I just felt like that second(-place finish) was definitely not a good representation of where we raced and the speed of the car as I felt around other people. And then, for some reason, talked about it. I normally don't. You're right." The decision to air those concerns came from a place of both genuine hopes to be better and heat-of-the-moment reactions moments after climbing from his race car: "I'm human and my emotions got the best of me." But his observations aren't reserved for the No. 1 Chevrolet specifically and instead encompass the entirety of Trackhouse, including teammates Daniel Suárez in the No. 99 car and rookie Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 88 car. While SVG struggled Saturday after a flat tire in practice, Suárez found good pace in qualifying, fast enough to start eighth in Sunday's race. Still, after finishing 10th at Texas with the 28th-ranked car on speed, Suárez shares the same worries Chastain explained. "I wish I could disagree with him, but, well, I don't," Suárez said. "I mean, we've been struggling on Saturdays to find the speed that some of the other teams have been able to find. And on Sunday, we are able to get better because we maximize things in our car, strategy, things like that. You know, last week in Texas, a third of the field wrecked. So it's tricky. Like, yes, we finished in the top 10, but really how good were we? Ross finished second. I think he did an amazing job on every single restart in the last five of them that we had. But we still need speed. "It's not a secret we're not where we need to be yet. We're working very hard for that. Hopefully we are working in the right direction. It's a topic of conversation every single Monday." [caption id="attachment_469904" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption] Suárez also added that team owner Justin Marks attended Monday's competition "for the same reason, because we have to put some urgency into the situation." Phil Surgen, crew chief of Chastain's No. 1 team, pulled no punches Saturday morning when discussing the lack of pace in their vehicles but acknowledged the results they've managed despite adversity: Chastain has scored six top 10s in 11 races, tied with four others for fourth-most in Cup this year with the ninth-best average finish. "Certainly off track from where we want to be speed-wise," Surgen told NASCAR.com. "Saturdays have been a bit of a struggle (in) practice and qualifying so far this year for all three of us. And by the time Sundays roll around, it seems like we're able to make something out of it towards the end of the race. We've had a handful of top 10s recently and second in Texas, and some of that is circumstance, and then some of that's just more opportunity to work on the car. "Racing takes something a little bit different than practicing and qualifying does. So thankfully, we're able to make something out of it on most of these Sundays, but it certainly puts us behind going into Sunday morning." MORE: SVG among those with trouble in practice The complications of a poor qualifying spot are not limited to the start of the race, though. "When you qualify poorly, the cascade is a poor pit stall," Surgen said. "Case in point, last week (at Texas), we got blocked in twice on top of having a broken jack on a pit stop. So it was like the hits keep coming. And aside of the jack, poor pit-stall selection can lead to just not giving yourselves the ability to gain any spots on pit road, often losing just from the fact you have a bad stall. "Certainly everybody at Trackhouse is working hard. We're relentless. Racing is perpetual (research and development). So everybody there is working hard and we're trying to bring something a little better every week." [caption id="attachment_469906" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] Surgen said "there's no smoking gun" leading to answers for the organization yet, but the ultimate source of improvement once the team arrives at the track is the vehicles' balance. "That's really our only tool once we show up," he said. "So we've been able to improve overnight, and we've been able to improve during the races. So we've made some ground there. Sometimes extremely small adjustments take us from something that's not real comfortable to something that seems like we got a car to work with, which is a bit concerning. But nevertheless, on the weekends, we work on the balance, and then during the week we can work on putting speed in the car." The good news for Chastain is that he and his team return as the most recent winners at Kansas Speedway. That provides the team a "solid baseline" to build upon, Surgen said, returning with more confidence in tow. So even in the face of a 26th-place starting spot, Chastain is focused on making the most of his Sundays, just like he's done all year. "Finishing good on Sunday is the end-all thing that matters the most in my life right now," Chastain said. "That is what I focus on the most is finishing the race. And there's lots of rewards along the way for stage points and qualifying and practice, but yes, the finish is ultimately what I care about the most. So yeah, I am proud that we're able to knock down good finishes."