Ross Chastain never thought he’d drive a fully wrapped late model.
And as odd as it may sound coming from the NASCAR Cup Series point leader, Chastain means what he says.
Ahead of Sunday’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the Florida native strapped into a late model stock car on Wednesday night to contest the CARS Tour’s Window World 125. He drove the No. 28 entry for Pinnacle Racing Group and finished 19th.
The entire experience brought him back in time, to when he was an 18-year-old driver facing a crossroad in his career.
“I had to make a decision of, do I want to be a professional late model driver at my home track and go to work during the week and make money and spend it on racing and maybe get some small sponsors?” Chastain said. “Or, do I want to put everything into NASCAR?”
To any modern NASCAR fan, it’s obvious what path he chose.
But the only attitude Chastain expresses regarding the peak he’s reached as a full-time Cup Series driver for Trackhouse Racing is humility. With his laidback demeanor in the late model pits and an easy smile on his face, Chastain would fit right in with the CARS Tour regulars if it weren’t for the national recognition he’s earned.
The truth is, the watermelon farmer experiences a twinge of regret when remembering what it was like to leave his late model life behind.
After spending the majority of his childhood racing crate late models and pro trucks near his hometown of Alva, Fla., Chastain pinned all his hopes on making it to NASCAR’s most elite level.
“There were times where I could’ve put together a late model and ran back home, but I just wanted to be a professional NASCAR driver,” Chastain said. “Now that I feel like I am that, I have opportunities to go race bucket-list events like this.”
He noted that the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group entry he piloted in the Window World 125 was also a dream come true in a way, as it was the “most beautiful late model” and the only fully wrapped late model he’d ever driven.
Though a major factor in his decision to run the CARS Tour event was to get a better grip on the track — which he’d never seen prior to Tuesday’s practice — for the All-Star Race, there are several reasons why the 30-year-old often dabbles in non-NASCAR events.
“I want to expose myself to as much racing as I can. Now that I’m at a spot where I’m not worried about my job on Sunday and I’m not worried about selling the next little sponsor to get tires for the next race, I can focus on being a better race car driver,” Chastain said.
As most race car drivers will tell you, the best way to sharpen your skills is to log more laps and spend more time in the cockpit — a principle that the “Melon Man” lives by. He typically spends his Wednesday nights wheeling a winged micro sprint at North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway, and also attempted to make his first dirt late model start on April 28 at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway.
Due to his background in local racing, the stout competition level he’s faced in the various series he’s entered hasn’t been surprising.
“I definitely don’t want to be the slowest one out there, but I understand it. These boys and girls that have been racing these cars regularly are good,” Chastain said. “Short-track racing is more competitive than it’s ever been.”
His statement rang true a few hours later, when he finished 19th out of 38 entries in the CARS Tour LMS event.
But despite the mediocre result, Chastain was smiling ear to ear as he debriefed with the team.
“I would do it again, for sure,” Chastain said. “The original goal was to do it to get ready for the All-Star Race and I thought I would have fun, but I didn’t know how much. And even though I wasn’t up front, I never could see the leader — well, I could, he was in my mirror, about to lap me for half the race.
“But I didn’t go a lap down, I didn’t crash anybody and I had a ton of fun.”