– No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain knows he has some work to do beginning Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Chastain begins the three-race Round of 12 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs just three points outside the transfer position to advance to the Round of 8. He’ll have Sunday’s 500-mile race on the ultra-fast, 1.5-mile oval, followed by Oct. 1 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, and the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 8 to climb into the top eight.
“Every week its a grind to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep advancing. Whether that’s from a physical aspect on my end with my workout routine, getting enough rest and making sure I’m doing everything I can. And making sure everything on the technical side with the car and setup is giving us the best chance to keep advancing.”
After the Round of 8, the playoff field will be reduced to four remaining drivers who will run in a winner-take-all championship race on Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. Last year, Chastain made it to the final round and finished runner-up to champion Joey Logano.
Chastain will have some extra supporters at the track on Sunday when he makes his seventh start at Texas. He’ll carry the livery of Dallas-based Worldwide Express.
The WWEX group of brands, which comprises Worldwide Express, Unishippers and GlobalTranz, offers full-service logistics expertise to more than 115,000 customers across the country. With access to industry-leading small package, truckload, less-than-truckload and managed transportation solutions, its customers benefit from enhanced visibility and value for their supply chains.
USA Network will broadcast Sunday’s race at 3:30 p.m. ET.
How do you approach Texas with it being the first race in Round 2 of the Playoffs?
“It’s preservation at Texas. Don’t do anything to take ourselves out. Since the repave at Texas I’ve struggled at places likes that. Super high grip tracks where you have all of this grip until you overstep. I’m pretty good at overstepping and catching it but at Texas it’s so tough to catch. So I just need to stay under my limit as to what I perceive is 100 percent effort.”
Where do you rank Round 2 of the Playoffs to the other rounds?
“Last year, I felt like Round 2 was our toughest round because of all of the different types of tracks and then we had an issue at the Charlotte Roval. Key to all of this is to not take ourselves out.”
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 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 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.
Trackhouse Racing PR
