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Ross Chastain has been racing for \u201cTeam Watermelon\u201d for several years now, but he\u2019s nearing the end of his first full season on the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit.<\/p>\n
For those who don\u2019t know, the Xfinity Series is a step below the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but if Ross keeps racing the way he\u2019s been racing (which is fast and consistent), he\u2019ll be tradin\u2019 red, green and white paint with the big boys in no time.<\/p>\n
As a professional racer, Chastain is busy \u2014 way busier than most 22-year-olds \u2014 but he was nice enough to chat with me recently for a quick interview.<\/p>\n
YOU GREW UP ON A WATERMELON FARM IN FLORIDA. WHAT\u2019S YOUR FONDEST MEMORY FROM THOSE DAYS?<\/p>\n
Harvest time! Seeing those field trucks pull into the packing house was so cool! Plus, we loaded a few bulk trailers so that meant bales of hay. We dug tunnels through them and would climb on that mountain all day long.<\/p>\n
YOU STARTED RACING WHEN YOU WERE 12 YEARS OLD, AT AN AGE WHEN MOST KIDS ARE STILL RACING THEIR FRIENDS ON THEIR BICYCLES. WHEN DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING YOU COULD DO AT THE NASCAR LEVEL?<\/p>\n
I started when I was 12 but it was definitely just a hobby. I guess I didn\u2019t ever think about NASCAR until I was about 18 and we ran the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. Basically it is a week of racing every night (technically 8 nights) which is unheard of in local asphalt racing.<\/p>\n
Racing locally in Florida, everyone always said if you really wanted to prove something you had to win there. Well, long story short we won three out of the eight races and the championship that week and that\u2019s where we talked to the first team owner in NASCAR.<\/p>\n
A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK NASCAR DRIVERS ARE PRETTY CUTTHROAT WHEN IT COMES TO OTHER DRIVERS \u2014 ESPECIALLY IF THEY\u2019RE NOT ON YOUR TEAM \u2014 BUT HAVE THERE BEEN ANY DRIVERS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU OUT OR THAT YOU\u2019VE LEARNED FROM?<\/p>\n
Ha! You\u2019re pretty spot on with that assessment. I don\u2019t have many friends that race in the same series I do. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t like them, but I don\u2019t want to have to answer to a buddy when something happens on the track. We\u2019re there to do a job, and that job is to run as fast as we can and finish as high as we can. I\u2019m not out there to ride around or stay behind someone because they might get mad if I put them in a bad spot when I pass them.<\/p>\n
When I started staying in Mooresville more and more back in 2012, I wanted to be close to the shop, so I lived there. But when I left that team, obviously I couldn\u2019t stay upstairs in the apartment at their shop anymore, so I was just in a hotel for about a week. I\u2019m friends with Brennan Newberry and was out at dinner with him and his dad and his teammate, Ron Hornaday.<\/p>\n
When Ron found out I was staying at a hotel, he said I could come live with him. I didn\u2019t have any of my stuff with me, and said no several times, but he wouldn\u2019t stop. When we got done with dinner he said \u201cfollow me,\u201d but he wouldn\u2019t give me his address, so I had to follow him that night. I guess I was there for about six months. He taught me a lot, just in conversation about his old races and how he handled situations, which he usually followed with how to handle them better. But the best thing he taught me, was his double taco recipe.<\/p>\n
WHAT\u2019S NEXT FOR TEAM CHASTAIN AND THE WATERMELON.ORG CAR? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE OFF-SEASON AND NEXT YEAR?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m on a week-by-week schedule right now. I\u2019ve never raced this much in my life and we\u2019ve still got a handful of races left this season. It\u2019s hard for me to see past the next race because my motto the past few years is spend a few weeks or a month getting ready for a race, now I have Sunday to relax and it\u2019s back to the grind Monday.<\/p>\n
Actually we\u2019ll have the \u201cProtect Your Melon\u201d car on track in Kentucky. The Kentucky DOT came on board with us this year to sponsor both of the races at their track out there in Sparta. We created a program around those two races and stickers that went on watermelons sold in the state of Kentucky. The car and stickers matched, with a drawing of a guy with a seatbelt on and a watermelon for his head.<\/p>\n
FINALLY, I GOTTA ASK\u2026WHEN IT COMES TO EATING WATERMELON, ARE YOU CHUNKS OR WEDGES KIND OF GUY?<\/p>\n
Wedges. How else am I supposed to explain it in my hair?<\/p>\n
UP NEXT: Up your watermelon game<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ross Chastain has been racing for \u201cTeam Watermelon\u201d for several years now, but he\u2019s nearing the end of his first full season on the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit. For those who don\u2019t know, the Xfinity Series is a step below the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but if Ross keeps racing the way he\u2019s been racing (which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[391,576,577,8,431],"class_list":{"0":"post-1972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-nascar","9":"tag-nascar-xfinity-series","10":"tag-ross-chastain","11":"tag-watermelon","12":"tag-watermelon-car","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n