Trackhouse Racing knows its going to be hard to top its last visit to Nashville Superspeedway in June 2023 when Ross Chastain claimed his third career victory in front of the team’s hometown fans. Chastain led the field to the green from the pole position for the first time in his career. Taking the top position on lap one, the Team Chevy driver went on to collect a top-five finish in both stages and lead a race-high 99 laps en route to victory at the 1.33-mile oval. The team spent Sunday night celebrating at Toosie’s downtown. Both Chastain and Daniel Suárez, who finished 12th in Nashville last year, wouldn’t mind a repeat performance and a trip to Tootsie’s after the race. While the team’s race shop is in Concord, North Carolina, Trackhouse’s executive headquarters are in Nashville.
- Busch Light Country: Get your cowboy boots ready for a boot kickin’ weekend! As Nashville is not only home to Trackhouse, but also to some of the country’s biggest country music superstars (and fans!), Ross Chastain will be representing Busch Light’s country music roster of artists in the No. 1 car at this week’s race. Whether at a bar on Broadway in Nashville or in the stands at a NASCAR race, country fans can be found with a Busch Light in hand. For this weekend’s paint scheme at Nashville Superspeedway, Trackhouse Racing, Chastain and Busch Light came together to bring NASCAR and country music fans closer to the sport they love, with the beer they love most. The Busch Country No. 1 Chevy Camaro will raise one up to artists that create the music that pairs perfectly with NASCAR and ice-cold Busch Light, by displaying the names of the brand’s country music roster: Ashley Cooke, Austin Snell, BRELAND, Jordan Davis, Matt Stell, Nate Smith, Priscilla Block and Riley Green.
- Busch Light Sweeps: Busch Light will be giving fans another chance to win this week with their #BreakForBusch #Sweepstakes. Follow @BuschBeer on X and tweet using the hashtag’s #BreakForBusch #Sweepstakes for the chance to win $2,000.
- Busch Light In-Car Camera: Fans will have the opportunity to enjoy watching Chastain take on the hot, slick Nashville track on Sunday via the Busch Light in-car camera.
- Media Availability: Chastain will be available to the media at the Nashville Superspeedway media center desk on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT.
- Meet Chastain: On Sunday at 10:45 a.m. CT, Chastain will sign autographs at the Tennessee Highway Safety Office booth in the fan midway. Wristband required – distribution begins on Saturday the booth.
- Defending Nashville Race Winner: Chastain qualified first to earn his first Cup Series career pole position and led 99 laps in route to his third career Cup Series win. The victory locked him into the playoffs for the second consecutive season. It also continued Chevrolet’s Cup Series win streak at the track with three consecutive Chevrolet Cup wins. Chastain and Trackhouse Racing celebrated the win by going to Tootsie’s on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville after the race.
- Double Duty at Nashville: Chastain returns to the Xfinity Series this weekend for his second start of the season in the No. 92 Tennessee Highway Safety Office Use Your Melon Chevrolet for DGM Racing. Two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway, Chastain drove the No. 92 Xfinity Series car to a ninth-place finish.
- Season Stats: Chastain has earned seven top-10s in 18 races so far this season along with 118 laps led. He’s currently ninth in driver points.
- NASCAR: Full Speed: Catch Chastain in the five-episode docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed on Netflix. The series documented portions of Chastain’s 2023 season on and off the track. All five episodes are currently available on Netflix.
- Last Weekend at New Hampshire: In a rain plagued weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Cup Series drivers were only able to complete a five minute practice session last Saturday. Chastain started Sunday’s race eighth after qualifying was canceled and the lineup was set per the rule book. Sunday’s race was red flagged for two hours and 14 minutes due to rain. Before the red flag, Chastain had reached as high as the third position. After the red flag was lifted, NASCAR mandated the teams use wet weather tires for the remainder of the event. The Chevrolet driver was seventh at one point on rain tires before he was spun and forced to restart at the back of the pack. He slowly worked his way forward to a 10th-place finish at the mile-track.
- 2023 Season Recap: Chastain won at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June and at the Phoenix Raceway season finale in November. He posted 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in his third full time Cup season. The Alva, Florida native finished ninth in points.
Chastain Quotes:
When you look back at last year’s Nashville race, how good do you feel about that performance and everything that went into it?
“Last year at Nashville was a career highlight for me for sure. It was one of those weekends that you dream about. We went out and performed really well. Now, there was times I was questioning if I was coming out the other side of a corner, and there was times that I deliberately lifted to get out of a situation that I didn’t think it was worth it. I’m really proud of that and I’ve been trying to put something together like that in a lot of weeks since (laughs).”
Are you surprised after that Nashville win last year and the season finale win at Phoenix, that you’re without a win so far this season because you had so much momentum?
“I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed. Just trying to put together weekends like we did at those two. Now, we’ve had shots at other ones, for instance this year at Las Vegas comes to mind. If I don’t speed on pit road, we have a shot to race for the win. We were as fast as the 5 (Kyle Larson) and 45 (Tyler Reddick), we were right there with them. I feel like small mistakes when we’ve had the speed, and other times some not-so-glaring issues like balance being just a little bit off.”
How excited are you to run a late model for Rackley W.A.R. at the Nashville Fairgrounds and what are your expectations?
“I’m super excited. The Fairgrounds track is one I’ve wanted to race at since I was 12 years old and was googling other races and late model races, pro truck races around the country. I was trying to see what other people were doing, look at their bodies and see what different classes did for setups. I was just looking at pictures and the Fairgrounds would come up and once I got more into the sport, and obviously my Nashville ties with Trackhouse. We talk a lot about Nashville and spend a lot of time there and the Fairgrounds race is one that has been on my bucket list. I was able to put together a program with Rackley W.A.R. and Tootsie’s, and Trackhouse let me go do that so it’s going to be cool moment when I finally pull on track there. 12 year old Ross is going to be really excited.”
Suárez Notes
- Tire Test in New York: Suárez and the No. 99 team will participate in the tire test at Watkins Glen International on Wednesday and Thursday before flying to Nashville on Friday.
- Suárez is Now a Dual Citizen of Mexico and the United States: Suárez took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony on June 18 in front of media, friends, the NASCAR industry and NASCAR President Steve Phelps who gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. The 32-year-old, Monterrey, Mexico native came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English. He passed the United States Citizenship test on April 29 in Charlotte before taking the final step on June 18. He is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States.
- Last week in New Hampshire: Suárez rallied from three laps down to finish 21st. His car was dramatically faster on the wet tires than the dry tires.
- Atlanta Victory: At Atlanta, he and runner-up Ryan Blaney were separated by 0.003 seconds at the finish line. It was the fourth-closest finish in series history, and with third-place Kyle Busch just 0.007 seconds behind the winner, it also stands as the closest finish among three cars in the history of auto racing.
- Trackhouse Victories: Atlanta marked Trackhouse Racing’s seventh win in the NASCAR Cup Series, and first at Atlanta. Chastain owns four victories, Suárez two and one for Shane van Gisbergen.
- Mexico Series Victory: Suárez won the 150-lap Mexico Series race at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Feb. 3. It was his 11th victory.
- First Mexican to Win in Cup: Suárez became the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series on June 12, 2022, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
- International Driver: He is one of six drivers not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race: Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy). Ambrose, Montoya, and Suárez own two victories each.
- Cup Career Highlights: Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards – Pocono (Pa.) Raceway July 2018, Kentucky Speedway July 2019, and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 2023.
Suárez Quotes:
What are your thoughts on Nashville this weekend?
“We want to celebrate Sunday night at Tootsie’s like Ross did last year. Nashville is a special place for us. It’s Tootsie’s hometown, (owner) Justin (Marks) hometown and a really fun town. There would be no better place to win.”
Season so far:
“We have been up and down of late. We were good in Iowa but struggled last week in New Hampshire before we put on the wet tires. Once we put on the wets we were a lot better. We have run well at Nashville in the past so I am pretty confident we will have a good car Sunday.”
Trackhouse Racing PR
