Ross Chastain is returning to the track that essentially made him a household name for NASCAR fans. Last October he rode the wall on the last lap of the championship-qualifying race here and passed five cars in the final corner to earn a position in the Championship Four season finale.
Since then the Florida watermelon farmer has been celebrated for that dramatic and fateful move in the race – something he’s appreciated. But the soft-spoken driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet says he’s much more concerned with the present than the past – and ready to win his first race of 2023.
What’s it like being back at Martinsville for the first race since then?
“It’s different, but that was a life-changing moment for myself and my team, everybody around me and we’ll continue to feel the benefits of that for years to come,’’ said Chastain, who will start the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 34th on Sunday.
“That doesn’t take anything away from the competition though. This place has humbled me for a decade through the (CRAFTSMAN) Truck Series, Xfinity and Cup and continued to do that yesterday in the truck race. So as much as it’s cool and awesome and we have a piece of the wall – I don’t think any other driver has been able to take a piece of the wall home – still it doesn’t help with lap time.”
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