Ross Chastain’s playoff run came to an end Sunday at the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but he’s still focused on winning and hopes to do that this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Las Vegas has statistically been one of Chastain’s better tracks since driving in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing. Last year, he earned finishes of second and third, and earlier this year at the 1.5-mile track he finished 12th.
Chastain’s first career NASCAR Series win came in Las Vegas at the September 2018 Xfinity Series race. The Alva, Florida, native dominated the race by leading 180 of 200 laps.
The Chevrolet driver was knocked out of the playoffs at the Roval even though he captured 13 bonus points and finished in the top-10, his first top-10 result since the Roval’s inception in 2018.
“We were good at Charlotte, but not great because great would’ve meant we made the next round,” said Chastain who missed the Round of 8 playoffs by 12 points. “A lot of it goes back to Talladega and being in an accident before the end of the first stage. But we did everything we needed to do at Charlotte with getting bonus points and putting us in a position to take advantage of anyone else’s misfortune.”
If the Worldwide Express driver does make it into victory lane at the Nevada track, it will mark Chastain’s second win of the season. He drove the No. 1 Chevrolet to victory lane with the Worldwide Express livery in June at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. He started from the pole position and led 99 laps en route to the win.
Three weeks ago, it was announced Worldwide Express signed a contract extension with Trackhouse Racing to appear on the Nos. 1 and 99 Chevrolet Camaros into the 2024 season for multiple races.
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NBC will broadcast Sunday’s race at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Ross Chastain, Driver of the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet
Now that you’re not in the playoffs, how do you approach the remaining races?
“The prep is the same every week whether or not we are in the playoffs. Everyone works hard every week to put the best prepared car out there, the engineers and Phil (Surgen) work hard on the setup and I continue the work with all of the different things I do. So even though we aren’t in the playoffs, we’re all still working very hard to finish out the season strong and go for wins.”
Chastain Notes
2023 marks Chastain’s third full-time Cup Series season. The Chevrolet driver’s first Cup Series start occurred in 2017. The Alva, Florida native earned his third Cup Series victory at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on June 25.
In 2022, Chastain won his first career Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 27 and his second at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 24.
The Chevrolet driver finished second in the season ending championship standings.
Known for the “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway that has garnered over 225 million views and 1.2B impressions.
Chastain owns 204 Xfinity Series starts with two wins (Las Vegas in Sept. 2018, and Daytona in July 2019), 24 top-five and 51 top-10 finishes.
The Florida native has 107 Craftsman Truck Series starts with four wins, three earned in 2019, and one in 2022 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 21 top-five and 47 top-10 finishes.
Chastain joined Trackhouse Racing for the 2022 season after Chip Ganassi Racing was acquired last off season by Justin Marks.
Chastain has driven for Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing in the Cup Series before his first full-time season in 2021.
No. 1 Trackhouse Team Roster
Founder: Justin Marks, Rocklin, California
President: Ty Norris, Sumter, South Carolina
Driver: Ross Chastain, Alva, Florida
Crew Chief: Phil Surgen, Lake Elmore, Vermont
Car Chief: David Fero, Galt, California
Spotter: Brandon McReynolds, Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Builder: ECR Engines, Welcome, North Carolina
Engine Tuner: Harry Holcomb, Mount Pulaski, Illinois
Fueler: Brook Davenport, Centreville, Maryland
Front Tire Changer: Mike Roberts, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Ken Pozega, Warren, Ohio
Jackman: Shane Wilson, Edgewater, Maryland
Tire Carrier: Matt Simmons, Charlotte, North Carolina
Engineer: Mike Skarbowski, Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania
Engineer: Mike Hann, East Granby, Connecticut
Mechanic: Josh Heidkamp, Vandalia, Ohio
Mechanic: Mike Madill, Glendale, Arizona
Tires: Patrick Lyden, Erie, Pennsylvania
Truck Driver: Roy Miller, Elkridge, Maryland
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
