It’s going to be a busy week in Upstate New York for Ross Chastain. In addition to this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International driving the No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, he’ll also be out among the race fans in the Upstate New York area making several appearances.
Chastain flies to the region on Wednesday before heading to the seven-turn track on Friday where he’ll drive the No. 1 Cup Series car in addition to the No. 91 Xfinity Series car for DGM Racing.
The busy weekend off the track will continue on Saturday after the Xfinity Series race when Chastain will appear at the Moose Lodge, 2096 State Route 14, Montour Falls, N.Y. to sign autographs and visit with members at 7 p.m. ET. At Watkins Glen on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET he will sign autographs at the New York DMV Highway Safety Booth in the fan midway.
“New York is kind of like a third home for me because I spend a lot of time in New York state and I have for several years doing various appearances,” said Chastain. “It’s fun to be in the state promoting different things. Watkins Glen is an incredible experience at the track and its unlike any other on the circuit.”
The red and black Moose Fraternity colors return to Chastain’s No. 1 Chevy this weekend.
A similar scheme became a viral sensation last year garnering over 225 million views and 1.2B impressions after Chastain ran the final corner up against the wall at full speed at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in a successful attempt to qualify for the Championship 4. The diecast from the “Hail Melon” at Martinsville was the 2022 season’s top selling diecast in NASCAR according to Lionel Racing.
Watkins Glen is the second consecutive road course for the Cup Series. Last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Chastain finished 17th after the race only saw one caution for the entirety of the event.
Last year at Watkins Glen, the Alva, Florida native finished 21st. Chastain is hoping to improve his result and capture another road course win. He already has one road course win – Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March 2022. It marked his first career Cup Series win.
Since then, he’s also captured victories at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April 2022, and most recently at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in June. He also won the Busch pole award at Nashville and led 99 laps in route to victory.
In total at Watkins Glen, Chastain is expected to drive 421 miles between the two series.
USA Network will broadcast Sunday’s race at 3 p.m. EDT.
Ross Chastain;
Do you remember your first time racing at Watkins Glen?
“Absolutely, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was in 2015 in the Xfinity Series and they had just repaved the track. I went to Todd Bodine who was in the series part-time and we were kind of in similar racecars, mid pack. I asked him for some tips because he had won a pole there. He gave me some advice for how he thought the track would be but he wasn’t really sure. Man, I went out there and about crashed because he was way too confident in how much grip the new asphalt would have. I had to back it down and he came running up to me after practice and said, ‘I hope you didn’t listen to me!’ I told him that I realized it and we were off on our estimation on the grip.”
Have you been able to accept that you are championship contender and realize what comes along with that instead of trying to hang onto your ride every week?
“This is year two of hopefully a long time competing in the Cup Series. There is nothing guaranteeing us though that this weekend, next year, or five or 10 years from now that we’ll be in this position. It has gotten a little easier but it’s probably still not where most people would expect. I guess I’m just a little different that way. I’m constantly waking up everyday trying to work harder because I feel like there’s enough reasons too. Now is the time when I really have to work harder than ever.”
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 200 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 106 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
