One of the major storylines of NASCAR the past handful of years has been the meteoric rise of Ross Chastain, going from watermelon farmer to field filler to Cup Series superstar.
Now, his 23-year-old younger brother Chad is trying to make the same ascension. Chad Chastain currently works on the family watermelon farm like his brother used to and is no slouch behind the wheel himself, winning races all over Florida.
Chad Chastain made his Camping World Truck Series debut last year at Watkins Glen International. He jumped in a Niece Motorsports truck after the team discovered Ross Chastain was not allowed in the race due to Cup drivers being barred from the regular season finale. The younger Chastain finished 34th.
Two more Truck starts came Chad Chastain’s way this year with Niece, with one start in the No. 41 and one in the No. 44. He finished 30th at both Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway.
Frontstretch caught up with Chad Chastain prior to the Richmond race to talk his own racing background, what he’s working on now and what it’s been like to see his brother in the headlines so much.
Michael Massie, Frontstretch: How did this deal come about for you to driver for Niece Motorsports?
Chad Chastain: I’ve been working with them for a long time, just helping out when I can. We ran IRP really good and kept the truck clean last time out, and they put me in for this weekend, so I couldn’t be more thankful.
Massie: Has your brother Ross or [teammate] Carson Hocevar helped you out at all in prepping for these races?
Chastain: Yeah, so Ross has never ran a Truck race [at Richmond], so he’s just going off his knowledge of the trucks, knowledge of the track from Xfinity and Cup. I definitely asked Carson some stuff, it’s hardly the same because we have such different driving styles.
Massie: When did you start racing?
Chastain: I started racing in 2010.
Massie: How old were you?
Chastain: I was 12, running pro trucks.
Massie: I read that you won pretty much everything in Florida. You won late model races, truck races down there, road course races. Is that true, and how did you drive so many different things?
Chastain: Yeah, so we had a pro truck that Ross ran and I ran when I was old enough to do it. We didn’t start at five, six, seven [years old] like some guys do in go karts. We started out in full-body stock cars. And then the typical, you do good there, you win races, you win championships, different track…
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