For the fourth consecutive NASCAR XFINITY Series season, veteran driver Ross Chastain will return to the driving duties of the No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro for the expected full 2018 season with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller.
The Alva, Florida native advanced from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the end of the 2014 season to drive for Johnny Davis’s three-car XFINITY Series program.
Often making the most of mid-pack equipment, Chastain entering Saturday’s Stay Alert. Drive Sober 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway has earned one top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
After being unable to produce a top-10 finish last season, the Floridian earned a career-best XFINITY Series finish of fourth at Iowa Speedway in June and followed through a week later with a sixth-place effort at Daytona International Speedway in July.
Despite missing the playoffs and six races left in 2017, Chastain idles a respectable 14th in the championship standings.
Chastain, 24, grew up racing at Punta Gorda (Fla.) Speedway competing in both the Late Model and Fastruck Series event – in addition to competing in select figure eight boat racing.
Making a name for himself on short tracks across the Sunshine State, Chastain quickly rose to fame winning over 50 feature events, including the 2011 World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, where he won three of eight events in the series.
From the Florida scene, Chastain moved into stock cars where he tested an ARCA car for Randy Hill Racing before making his NASCAR National Series debut in 2011 driving for Turn One Racing at Lucas Oil Raceway, finishing an impressive 10th.
Soon thereafter, Chastain’s been a long-time fixture in the Truck Series and XFINITY Series garages.
Before moving to JD Motorsports, he competed on a part-time basis for Brad Keselowski Racing in Trucks, where he earned two poles, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 14 races. He finished a career-best second twice at Iowa and Phoenix Raceway respectively.
Earlier this year, Chastain made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut driving for Premium Motorsports at Dover.
He’ll make his second Cup start of the season again driving for Jay Robinson’s team in Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400. In June, he qualified 36th at the Monster Mile but rocketed to a top-20 finish.
“My Cup debut in June far surpassed my expectations,” Chastain said. “To be able to run competitively and come home with a solid finish in my first time driving a Cup car was awesome. I want to thank (team owner) Johnny Davis for putting it all together.
“He has helped me so much in this sport and now is helping me further my career the Cup series, so I can’t thank him enough.”
This weekend, Chastain’s XFINITY and Cup cars will carry the “Use Your Melon. Drive Sober” campaign. Like the Spring race at the Monster Mile, the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and Chastain have teamed up to remind motorists to “Use Your Melon” and Drive Sober.
The watermelon-themed logos and safety campaigns are inspired by Chastain’s family history of watermelon farmers and his tires to the watermelon growers’ associations.
“This partnership is extra exciting to me because OHS and JDM have found a way to promote two causes that are closest to my heart — safe driving and agriculture,” sounded Chastain.
“The ‘Protect Your Melon’ campaign was a lot of fun in the spring, so I can’t wait to get the fans at Dover involved with the ‘Use Your Melon’ campaign. I can’t wait to see more watermelons at the track, and less people driving while impaired everywhere.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
