FANTASY NASCAR Racin

Chastain started racing at the age of twelve, his interest piqued by his father's hobby racing and other kids his age racing. His home track was Punta Gorda Speedway in Punta Gorda, Florida, and began competing in both late model and Fastruck Series events. Even those races, at tracks like Citrus County Speedway, Auburndale Speedway and DeSoto Speedway, were run on a tight budget, a theme that would carry on to much of Chastain's career in the higher ranks of NASCAR. After making the move to Charlotte in mid-2011, Chastain took over the # 66 Turn One Racing entry in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series after Justin Marks vacated the seat. His first Truck race, at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, was his first race with live pit stops. He finished 10th in that event. Connections in the watermelon farming industry got Chastain four more race

starts. In early 2012, it was announced that Chastain would compete for Rookie of the Year honors with SS-Green Light Racing in 2012. Driving the No. 08 truck sponsored by the National Watermelon Association and National Watermelon Promotion Board. He finished seventh at Martinsville; but bested that with a third place finish at Bristol. In January 2013, it was announced that Chastain would drive in 15 Camping World Truck Series races in 2013 for Brad Keselowski Racing. Chastain won his first Pole that season at Iowa and lead the most laps. But a green-white-checkered finish saw James Buescher grab the win and leave Chastain in second. Chastain almost grabbed a win later in the year, leading 60 laps at Phoenix before being bypassed by Erik Jones. Chastain again finished second. Leaving BKR after the 2013 season, Chastain moved to RBR Enterprises for a part-time schedule in the

NASCAR Truck Series for 2014. Comments before and after the Martinsville race, as well as racing actions during the race, led the team to fire Chastain from the ride. In May, he announced he would make his debut in the Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, driving the #55 for Viva Motorsports. He later joined JD Motorsports in 2015, replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt and drove the #4 Chevy. The opportunity emerged after Chastain raced with TriStar Motorsports at the end of the 2014 season. His car was comparable to the performances of the JDM cars,

which led to a deal in the offseason. Chastain logged one top-ten on the year, a ninth in the season-opening PowerShares QQQ 300. Chastain’s 2017 Xfinity season was the best of his career, scoring a top five at Iowa and two top tens as well as finishing 13th in points, highest of the non-playoff drivers. Also in 2017, Chastain joined Premium Motorsports' #15 car for his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover. He drove to a respectable 20th place finish. In late September 2017, Chastain announced that he would return to JD Motorsports for a fourth year, running the entire 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, as well as hinting at another part-time Cup schedule with Premium Motorsports. He started off the Xfinity season with a top-ten at Daytona International

Speedway, and ran his first Cup race of 2018 the week after at Atlanta Motor Speedway. By the Easter off weekend, Chastain had expanded his Cup schedule, which had included every race since Atlanta, to all of the race weekends where the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series run at the same track. Later that season, Chastain hopped in the Premium Motorsports #15 truck for the World of Westgate 200 and finished seventh, Premium's best-ever finish across all three NASCAR national series. On the strength of a summer performance that saw him hold down the final Xfinity Series playoff spot, Chastain and Chip Ganassi Racing announced a three-race

agreement for Chastain to pilot the organization's #42 entry for races at Darlington Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway. The races came at the expense of John Hunter Nemechek, who could not sell sponsorship for the races. DC Solar was announced as a backer for Chastain's effort's effort. Chastain had previously met the CEO of DC Solar at Auto Club Speedway in 2018, and plans materialized from there. For the first race of the trio, Chastain held top-ten spots in both practices, finishing second in first practice. He later claimed the pole over Christopher Bell, and during the race won the first two stages. During the third stage, Chastain was battling for the race lead with Kevin Harvick with thirty-five laps to go. Through turns one and two of the traditionally one-groove Darlington track, the lapped car of

ChadFinchum took the top-groove racing lane, leaving Harvick and Chastain jostling for positions in the bottom lanes. After clearing Finchum, Harvick slid up into Chastain who then slid up into the wall. At the end, Chastain had finished 25th after repairs and called running up front "cool"; although there was no doubt he had the best car in the race. After running a race with JD Motorsports at Indianapolis, Chastain returned to CGR for the DC Solar 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He once again performed well throughout the weekend, securing the second-fastest time in final practice and the fifth starting spot for the race. Once again the class of the field,

Chastain led all but twenty of the 200 laps in the race and prevailed over Justin Allgaier for the victory, his first in over 200 starts in NASCAR. True to his roots, Chastain smashed a watermelon on the track as a final victory celebration. His final start for Ganassi saw him once again have a great run and posted a second place finish. It was very impressive to see how the kid that had always drove underfunded equipment could do in top notch stuff. He proved he could run (and out run) the very best in the Xfinity series. With the win, a playoff birth was wrapped up, the first of his career. Chastain also revealed that he was not being paid to drive the car. Chastain fell out of the playoffs after the opening round after Matt Tifft made a late-race rally at Dover, claiming the final spot by three

points. After driving the three races for Ganassi' Chastain was back to driving for the underfunded Johnny Davis team and was a long shot to advance very far. Towards the latter part of the 2018 season, Chastain joined Niece Motorsports for some NASCAR Truck Series races wheeling the #38 Chevy. Although some were surprised at how well Chastain ran in those races, Chastain instead said that the organization was better than the community gave it credit for. On October 6, 2018, it was reported that Chastain had agreed to drive the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season with Premium Motorsports. Due to his impressive performance he put up driving the three races for

Ganassi; it was announced that Chastain and CGR would run a full season in the #42 Xfinity Series car for 2019. DC solar, instrumental in Chastain's introduction to the team, remained on as sponsor. However on December 21, 2018; the FBI raided the home of DC Solar's owner and CEO Jeff Carpoff. It is believed to be in connection with an ongoing tax dispute. Cars and items from inside the home were seized. It was also confirmed that there was also a raid at Benicia Industrial Park where DC Solar is located. Witnesses said business vehicles, additional personal cars and items from within the buildings were removed. Then in January of 2019, Ganassi announced that due to the circumstances having to do with DC Solar owner Jeff Carpoff he was going to have to suspend operations of his Xfinity team for 2019; leaving Chastain with a ride.

This lead to a topsy-turvy season for Ross. First he started off the season declaring to race for the Xfinity Series Championship. He also planned to drive for Niece Motorsports in the Truck Series. He ran well in the Xfinity series and was in the hunt to make the Chase. Meanwhile he was running well in the Truck series and grabbed a win in Kansas. It was his first career Truck series win. In June he announced that he would change series and compete for the Championship in the Truck series. This placed him in the position that since he was swapping mid-season he would have zero points nine races into the season. Therefore to qualify for the Truck Chase he would have to win and finish in the top 20 in points to qualify for the Chase. He placed

tenth in his first race and then at Iowa he led 141 of 200 laps to apparently get the win. But his truck failed post race tech and he was disqualified and placed last. The following week in St Louis at Gateway Speedway; Chastain came out to show it was no fluke he won; and he again crossed the finish line first. This time the win stood and now all he had to do was climb into the Top 20 in points to make the Chase. He posted an additional win at Pocono and many finishes inside the Top 10 got him Chase eligible. Once Chastain's berth in the Truck Series playoffs was secure, CarShield announced full sponsorship of his playoff efforts. In the Chase he was stout and was always a front runner. He made it all the way to race for the Championship in Miami; but Austin Hill had a fast truck

that no one could keep up with as he won the race. Matt Crafton finished second to win the Championship. Chastain finished fourth in the race and second in the Championship. While all this was going on Chastain was running many races in the Xfinity Series and full time in the Cup series. During the spring, Chastain broke the all-time NASCAR record for most consecutive races run across all three national series to start a season, surpassing the mark of 22 set by Kyle Busch set in 2008. He eventually race 36 consecutive races in NASCAR's Top three divisions before scheduling

conflicts stopped the streak. For the season Chastain ran 77 races combined in the three series. In the Xfinity Series he drove for owner Matthew Kaulig of Kaulig Racing; and also owner Johnny Davis. In July Chastain won at Daytona driving for Kaulig. In the Cup series he raced for owner Jay Robinson's under funded team. He had a best finish of tenth in the Daytona 500 and added a 12th later at Talladega. For 2020 it was announced that Chastain would drive full time for Kaulig Racing in an effort to claim the Xfinity Series Championship. This was a second full time team for Kaulig Racing as Justin Haley already drove the #11 car full time in the series. Chastain

had a miserable year in 2020. He had fast cars; but after winning a race the previous two season; he couldn't manage to find victory lane. Looking down his list of finishes he has 15 top five finishes; including five second place finishes. He added a whopping 27 top ten results in the series 33 events. He easily made the Chase via points; but finishes of 12th and 16th in the third round eliminated him from a chance to win the Championship. He ended up seventh in the points. He ran a limited amount or races in the Cup Series. Three of those were for Roush Fenway Racing after Ryan Newman's horrible crash. He also ran some for Spire Motorsports. He ran a hand full of races in

the Truck Series for owner Al Niece. For 2021 Chastain finally got his shot to run the Cup Series in a competitive car. He wheeled the #42 owned by Chip Ganassi; in a ride vacated by Matt Kenseth; and was the team mate of Kurt Busch. He posted his first career Top 5 finish at COTA on the road course when he finished fourth. He added a second and third place finish later in the season. He also posted eight Top 10 results. He made one Xfinity Series start; and also had four Truck Series starts driving for Al Niece. He finished second at Kansas. The biggest news for Chastain in 2021 was that his owner; Chip Ganassi; decided to sell his NASCAR team and get completely out of

racing in the NASCAR Series at the end of 2021. Track House Racing bought out Ganassi; and Chastain was the first driver they hired for 2022. Daniel Suarez was later hired to be Chastain’s team mate. Chastain stayed busy in 2022 as he run at least one race in each of the three premier series in NASCAR. He ran five races in the Xfinity series and had a fourth at the road course of Indianapolis and a fifth at Kansas as his best showings. In the Truck series, he also made five starts, all in the #41 driving for Al Niece. He

pulled off the victory at Charlotte after taking the lead for the first time with five laps to go. He had a spirited battle with Christian Eckes over that span, as Eckes was ahead at the white flag; but Chastain got by to claim the win. He finished fourth on the road course at Sonoma. It was in the Cup series he shined. He started off the season at the Daytona 500 involved in a big crash at lap 62, and finished the race in last place. Fontana saw his team struggle as he could only manage to finish 29th. After that the spark ignited and he finished third at Las Vegas. In the fourth race of the season at Phoenix he bettered that by one as he finished second; and had another second place finish the following week at Atlanta. From there the series move to the road course of COTA and he again ran well there. He started mid-pack and found it hard to pass. By the end of stage two he had worked his way into the top ten. His crew had a fast pit stop and got him onto the track first as stage three started. All through the final stage he would

battle with AJ Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe for the win. The final few laps got pretty physical as the drivers beat on each other going for the lead. On the final lap, Allmendinger shoved Chastain out of the lead and onto the track shoulder. Bowman also got by. Chastain kept his foot in it, and was just right behind. Heading into the final corners Bowman had caught Allmendinger; as they got side by side. Chastain took advantage and made it three ride, and moved both of the drivers out of the way as he assumed the lead coming off the final turn to go on and get his first career win. Four races later he found himself once again in victory lane at

Talladega. He continued to post top ten results, as he showed he might be a contender for the 2022 championship. Along the way he ruffled some feathers by running into and wrecking drivers. First, he and Denny Hamlin had issues, with Hamlin vowing revenge on Chastain. Later in the season he run into Chase Elliott and spun him; and a few races later, Ross took Kyle Busch out of the race. In an interview after Kusch left the medical center, Kyle just said, "I got Chastained". Ross seemed be over-zealous and he tempered his aggression later in the season. When the Chase started, he ran well enough to make it our of the first round; and in the second round finished 13th and fourth the first two races which carried him into round three, even though he finished 37th at the Roval. At Martinsville it was a real battle. Two drivers;

Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell were in a must-win situation to advance to the final four; while Chastain and Hamlin were in a battle to get in by points. Bell would take the win and take a spot which left a scramble between Chastain and Hamlin for the final transfer spot. Hamlin caught and passed Chastain in the closing laps to move himself it the finals. Hamlin had to finish two spots in front of Chastain to advance. On the final lap Hamlin was going to make the final four easily. But being five spots behind Hamlin; Chastain knew drastic action was called for. He made a move that looked like something out of a video game. As other cars slowed entering turn three for the final time; Chastain got against the outside wall as he entered turn three and held the gas pedal to the floor, as he rode the outside wall to make the car turn. He flew past a series of cars and ended up in fourth place; one

spot ahead of Hamlin. He went from tenth to fourth in one corner. Chastain's bold move had propelled him into the final four of the Chase; as Hamlin stood with his jaw on the ground wondering what just happened. (see video here). The 'wall-riding' move was widely commented upon in the media, and Chastain remarked that the move was inspired by the video game NASCAR 2005. Hamlin described it as a "great move", remarking that "when you have no other choice, it certainly is easy to do that." Although NASCAR ruled that the maneuver was legal, some race competitors and commentators criticized the move's safety and called

on NASCAR to prohibit the move from setting a precedent at future races. The move was given several different names with one being "The Hail Melon". In the Championship race at Phoenix, no one had anything for Joey Logano. When he got out front, he simply drove away from everyone. Chastain's crew worked on his car all day but could never make it good enough to compete with Logano. Chastain finished third in the race; second in the points. Chastain was back with Track House Racing in 2023, and got his 2023 season get off to a good start. He finished ninth in the Daytona 500; and followed that up the next week by finishing third at Fontana. He was 12th at Las Vegas; but had a poor finish of 24th at Phoenix, even though he was on the lead lap. Things improved with a

13th at Atlanta, and he finished fourth at COTA, and had a third at Richmond. He almost won his first time in 2023 when he came home second at Dover. He did finally grab that first win at Nashville; and locked himself into the Chase. From that point the team struggled as he only posted one top 10 finish the rest of the regular season. When the Play offs kicked off he finished fifth at Darlington; and ran well enough to advance to the next round. He almost won at Texas as the second round started; but was involved in a crash at Talladega and finished 37th.

This proved to be his downfall as he missed advancing to the Round of Eight. He finished fifth at Las Vegas, and capped off the season with a win at Phoenix as the season closed. He had two wins on the year with 10 Top 5 and 14 Top 10 results. He was busy in 2023 as he raced in all three of NASCAR top series. In the Xfinity series, he made seven starts with a best finish of fourth at Watkins Glen. He also made seven starts in the Truck series. His best finish was fifth; both at Kansas and at COTA. He added a ninth at North Wilkesboro. Chastain will be back at Track House Racing in 2024; and will pick up additional sponsorship from Busch beer. Since Kevin Harvick retired at the end of 2023; Busch Beer made the more to sponsor Chastain.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

ROSS LEE CHASTAIN - 12/04/1992