NASCAR: Ross Chastain Smashed Charlotte Like Watermelon
The three-day NASCAR weekend turned out to be more than just a time to race and reflect for Ross Chastain. It was also a time to smash his way to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 and to pay tribute to his family by smashing watermelon following his first win of the season.
Over the years, Chastain developed his own signature celebration after winning a race. In fact, it’s something that the late comedian Gallagher would be more than proud of.
Just like football players celebrate scoring a touchdown by slamming a pigskin into the ground, Chastain’s post-victory celebration involves spiking a watermelon onto the track. However, it doesn’t include a dance like the “Ickey Shuffle.”
Yet, Chastain’s remarkable performance in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 wasn’t the only success that he had over the last few days. In fact, fans were almost treated to two watermelon spikes during NASCAR’s Memorial Day weekend festivities.
Chastain Almost Won The Lottery On Friday
On Friday night, May 23, Chastain joined fellow Cup Series driver Kyle Busch by competing in the Truck Series race – the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. And, though, the race was thoroughly dominated by Corey Heim, Chastain came close to covering the track with watermelon.
The eventual Coca-Cola 600 winner ended up finishing second in Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race and even led 11 laps on the evening. It was an impressive performance for Chastain’s second appearance in the Truck Series this season.
He also competed in the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami on March 21. Chastain finished 6th in that race and now has a 4.0 average finish in the Truck Series this season.
However, Chastain wasn’t a popular NASCAR pick to win either Truck race. Just like he wasn’t even on the radar of potential winners for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.
Chastain Smashes His Way From Worst To First
Chastain and his team were riding high following their runner-up finish on Friday night. On Saturday, they took to the track for some practice laps as every team worked on getting their cars dialed in for Sunday’s big race.
Unfortunately for the driver and the rest of Trackhouse Racing, Chastain crashed during practice due to a tire going down.
The damage appeared to be fixable but NASCAR deemed that it required a complete rebuild. So, Chastain and roughly 30 Trackhouse Racing employees stayed up all Saturday night building a new car.
Following the Cup victory, Crew Chief, Phil Surgeon, proudly boasted about the effort of everyone who showed up to help rebuild the car:
“This group of guys I have got is relentless and no doubt everybody was going to give it their best,” Surgen said. “Guys were at concerts and ballgames and dropped what they were doing to come in and help.”
Due to the crash in practice, the #1 car had to start in last place (40th) on Sunday. According to NASCAR, Chastain became the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1969, to win a race from the last spot in the field.
Chastain’s ascension from worst to first didn’t happen right away. In fact, it took him an entire 100-lap stage to move through the field and pick off drivers like watermelon seeds on his shoes following the post-race celebration.
The #1 car would finish 7th on Stage 2 and it became clear that Trackhouse Racing had done a great job putting their driver in contention for at least a Top 10 finish.
Stage 3 completed with Chastain finishing 4th. The excitement grew within the team and they started believing that the #1 car was more than just a Top 10 contender. In fact, some crew members believed that, with a little luck and further tweaking, Chastain could get up and contend with the leaders.
This hope was solidified when the #1 car led two laps half-way through the final stage of the race. It also proved that Chastain had a vehicle that was almost on par with the two best cars of the night.
For most of the race, William Byron’s #24 car was out front. He led 283 of the 400 laps and battled Denny Hamlin’s #11 car for the race lead throughout the last two stages.
However, Hamlin’s late-race pit strategy cost them a high finish, as the #11 ended up 16th in the race. Instead, Chastain was able to chase down Byron and take the lead on lap 395. The #1 car held on for the win by 0.673 seconds over the #24.
Although he didn’t win on Friday night, Chastain left Charlotte Motor Speedway with a victory in one of the Cup Series’ crown jewel events, a runner-up in the Truck Series race, and #1 in the hearts of those NASCAR fans who love a good watermelon smashing.