Ross Chastain aims to better his 2023 Homestead-Miami Speedway finish by just one position when the NASCAR Cup Series returns to South Florida on Sunday.
Last year at the 1.5-mile track, Chastain drove the orange-and-black No. 1 Kubota Tractor Corporation Chevrolet to a second-place finish, just 1.261 seconds behind winner Kyle Larson.
Like most drivers, Chastain would enjoy a win anywhere, but a victory at Homestead, about two hours southeast of his hometown of Alva, Florida, would mean a great deal to Chastain, his family and Kubota Tractor Corporation,
“It would be huge to get a win at Homestead,” said Chastain. “So many people from southwest Florida and family members come and support me at Homestead that I couldn’t even imagine what victory lane would be like with them. If we can bring another fast car like we did last weekend, we’ll be in good shape for Homestead.”
Not only does Chastain want a strong run for his team, he also wants to finish in the top-10 for Kubota Tractor Corporation’s “Geared to Give” program. In each race Chastain pilots the Kubota Chevrolet to a top-10 finish, Kubota will donate $10,000 to Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC). So far this year, Chastain’s finishes have raised $20,000, and a top-10 this weekend can bring the total for the season to $30,000. Last month at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Chastain presented five farmer veteran recipients keys to their new equipment.
Kubota has supported the eighth-generation watermelon farmer since last season when he debuted Kubota on the No. 1 Chevrolet at Homestead. In September, Kubota announced an agreement to serve as primary sponsor on Trackhouse Racing Chevrolets seven times in 2024.
Chastain expects be a contender for victory lane on Sunday.
Last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway he started in the top-10, rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty during a green-flag pit stop, and ran as high as second before a mechanical issue left him with a fifth-place finish.
NBC will broadcast Sunday’s race at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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
