If you are lucky enough to have garage passes for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, swing by Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez’s Trackhouse Racing haulers before the race and take in the acoustic set by rising country music singer Taylor Lee.
Trackhouse Entertainment Group’s corporate office is headquartered in Nashville and Lee’s pre-race entertaintainment is part of the team celebrating its “home race.”
The California country songwriter was on season 6 of NBC’s The Voice. Since then he has been writing songs and playing shows all over California. More recently, he moved to Nashville to pursue his dreams to become a country artist. He performed an acoustic set before the race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 23.
Lee’s performance is an enhancement to the Trackhouse hospitality display at the team’s haulers intended to engage and entertain partners, fans and guests in the NASCAR Cup Series garage area. “It’s neat to have a musician behind our haulers for everyone to enjoy, especially at Nashville since its the country music capital,” said Chastain. “I hope everyone takes time to come by and listen to Taylor.”
The third-year NASCAR Cup Series team will also display its four digital LED video boards on the back of the team haulers. The digital boards debuted at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April and have the capability to include 4K videos of race highlights, sponsor and Trackhouse content along with rotating graphics of Suárez and Chastain for fans in the garage.
Chastain will likely take in the concert and video boards but he also has work to do Sunday as he pilots the familiar blue-and-black No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro in the 400-mile race.
With 10 races remaining in the regular season, Chastain currently sits fourth in the point standings. A win would automatically lock him into the playoffs for his second consecutive season. Last year, he finished second in the championship standings.
Chastain has two Cup Series starts at Nashville which include a runner-up finish, and most recently a fifth-place result in the weather delayed race last year driving the No. 1 Chevy for Trackhouse.
Chastain spent the season’s only off weekend honing his racing craft by participating in a vintage sports car race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This week he’s participating in the Goodyear tire test at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Saturday, Chastain will watch younger brother Chad Chastain participate in the Xfinity Series race driving the No. 91 for DGM Racing. It marks the younger Chastain’s third Xfinity race this season.
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NBC will broadcast Sunday night’s Nashville race at 7 p.m. EDT as it begins its coverage for the remainder of the season.
How big is the off weekend so you can prepare to go hardcore into the 10 races before the playoffs?
“I feel like my life is pretty relaxed as it is. I get up up everyday and try and drive a racecar to the best of my ability, but I fit enough downtime in the week to be comfortable with myself. I feel prepared for the race when I drive to the airport each week.”
Is there any added pressure because you’re going into Nashville?
“I don’t think there is any added pressure. We do a lot of extra activities there but as far as competition, its a pretty normal weekend. It’s a unique track but I prepare for it just like any other track.”
How would you prioritize stage points versus wins? Of course the goal is to win the race but are you conscious of stage points throughout the race?
“Ultimately everything is built for the end of the race for our strategy. But when we run good we get more stage points and that’s why we’ve been able to rack up regular season points. We haven’t really been biased to get more stage points and give up the end result of a win because its about the end for us.”
Chastain Notes
- 2023 marks Chastain’s third full-time Cup Series season. The Chevrolet driver’s first Cup Series start occurred in 2017.
- 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 championshipstandings.
- Voted 2022 National Motorsports Press Association’s Driver of the Year.
- Known for the “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway that has garnered over 225 million views and 1.2B impressions.
- Moose car from Martinsville topped all diecasts in sales for 2022.
- Chastain owns 199 Xfinity Series starts with two wins (Las Vegas in Sept. 2018, and Daytona in July 2019), 23 top-five and 49 top-10 finishes.
- The Florida native has 105 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 46 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.
Trackhouse Racing PR
