DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Eight years ago, Ross Chastain came to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway as a South Florida native set to compete in an ARCA Menards Series test for the relatively unknown Randy Hill Racing.
In 2020, he’ll make his second start in the “Great American Race” – this year driving a car prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Daytona 500 will mark the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races with Ganassi, competing in the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE owned by Spire Motorsports.
With backing from AdventHealth, one of the country’s largest faith-based health systems, Chastain will drive in this year’s Daytona 500 and May’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor
Speedway as teammates to Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch.
Larson will also drive an AdventHealth partnered No. 42 Chevrolet in next month’s Busch Clash exhibition race and the October Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway.
“It’s hard to put into words, honestly, what this opportunity means to me,” Chastain said Thursday. “They’ve been saying all along that we’re going to figure it out. When everything went down and (Chip) had to shut down the Xfinity car, Chip kept saying to me, ‘I’m working on it. I’m working on it.’
“They kept saying they wanted me in their race cars. Of course, that’s a lot easier said than done but the whole sales team never quit and that’s the first domino that has to fall. They told me a while back they were working on this.
“It’s great to keep that relationship. It hasn’t always been out in the public.”
For Chastain, his future with Chip Ganassi Racing may just beginning.
The 27-year-old ran three Xfinity Series races during the 2018 season with CGR, winning his first career Xfinity Series race Las Vegas. He was scheduled to run the full Xfinity Series season for Ganassi last year, but the opportunity fell apart in December 2018 when then sponsor DC Solar found itself entangled in legal issues.
Despite a clouded 2019 season at first, Chastain competed in all three of NASCAR’s top national divisions and contended for the Truck Series title at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in November but fell one spot short of the championship.
Through the trials and tribulations with different organizations, the Alva, Fla. native insisted that his relationship with CGR remained intact.
In five weeks, Chastain will be back at the World Center of Racing not only to compete in the Daytona 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing but also compete in the Truck Series opener with Niece Motorsports and the Xfinity race with Kaulig Racing.
“We’re coming back down here in February with the opportunity to win all three races. I’ve won with every team I’m driving for,” Chastain said. “I don’t know how common that is for a driver. It’s not common for me because I haven’t won that many races.
“The Cup series is definitely another level. Talking with the guys I’m working with on this car, we’re coming down here with a chance to win. They told me we’re coming down here with two bullets – a primary and a backup.”
While Chastain admitted he isn’t exactly sure how many Cup races he’ll compete in this season, he still has a full plate.
He’ll compete fulltime in the Xfinity Series this season in a second fulltime entry for Kaulig Racing and run approximately 10 Truck Series events for Niece Motorsports.
Chastain said he never doubted Ganassi’s word on the possibility of future driving opportunities, but he understood the difficulty in obtaining funding.
“I know how hard it is to do it. We had to find the dollars,” Chastain sounded. “AdventHealth wanted to run these races and it was just the perfect opportunity to bring me in.
“Honestly, how do you give a guy like me the opportunity to drive? AdventHealth only does a select number of races with Chip Ganassi Racing and you give me two of those races when you got guys like Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch.
“This worked out perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
