Ross Chastain finally used to his new normal ahead of 2025 NASCAR season

The last three seasons with Trackhouse Racing have been eye-opening for Ross Chastain. Now, he’s embracing his new normal. Ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500 and NASCAR Cup Series season, Chastain is realizing that he is right where he belongs.

Long gone are the days of Ross Chastain at Premium Motorsports. When he shows up at the track, his merch is everywhere, people dressed like watermelons, and everyone with eyes on the No. 1 car waiting for the next controversial or downright amazing move he makes on track.

Speaking to Ross in an interview at the Trackhouse Racing office in Nashville, Tennessee, the same humble watermelon farmer sat in front of me. But the light blue Busch Light pullover showed that some things had changed.

That has taken time to get used to for Chastain. He had just done an event in front of the Anheuser Busch company. 5,000 people in one room there to see him and the Busch Light character from the TV commercials. The driver pinched himself. But this is what he does now.

“Like, I’m the Busch Light guy,” the driver said, still with disbelief in his voice. “Year two now, and embracing driving the No. 1 car in NASCAR, it’s – this is normal. We’re gonna hopefully do this for a long time.”

But why has it been so hard for Ross Chastain to get to this point in his own head? Since that 2022 season, the win at COTA, the aggressive moves on track, and the Hail Melon, everyone knows what this guy is about.

Yet every time he talks about himself, he goes back to being overtly humble. “I’m just happy to be here.” “I’m racing against my heroes.” “I can’t believe I’m in this position.” The results, publicity, and sponsorships say otherwise.

“So, it’s been a transition, and I live with my emotion kind of out there. And what you see in the interviews is, yeah, I polish it up, my thoughts. Like, I don’t say everything I think, but y’all have seen and people have seen and told me that they see, like the, you know, the doubt and the humble part where I kinda talk down about myself and I don’t know why I’m here.

“I am just happy to be here. And I have thought, and that’s legitimately what I thought in those moments. … But, you know, for me, the thought that it is changing though, that thought has crossed my mind, more recently than a couple [of] years ago. So, yeah, it is changing.”

Is Ross Chastain still the same guy he was when he was hopping in any ride he could get his hands on? Well, no, and the man himself knows this more than anymore.

“It’s definitely evolving, and I’m not the same person I was last year. I’m definitely not the same person I was a few years ago, and same with the team. They’re not the same. We’re in a competition business, so it’s, it’s evolve or die kind of as far as being competitive.”

With Trackhouse Racing, Ross Chastain has even more chances to grow as a driver and build a legacy. He can become one of these transcendent stars. After all, Justin Marks is getting his brand in any motorsport that will accept him.

Ross Chastain has dreams beyond NASCAR

When NASCAR fans and media think about the most versatile drivers in the sport, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are two drivers that come to mind immediately. Then you may throw in drivers like Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, and a few others.

I am not sure if Ross Chastain is on anyone’s shortlist. Underrated and overlooked most of his career, that much hasn’t changed.

Now with drivers like Larson running the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 double, more Cup drivers racing dirt, Helio Castroneves racing Daytona with Trackhouse and a Trackhouse IMSA entry, the world of motorsports is opening up and intermingling. Chastain wants to be part of that.

“The 24 Hours of Daytona is high on my bucket list, and I am committed to doing that one day,” Chastain said. “It wasn’t right this year with the driver lineup [Justin Marks] had available. I definitely would, I mean, he’s got a stacked lineup, but I will, I believe I will work [on] the business [side]. It’s a business.”

Ross Chastain is also interested in an IndyCar ride one day. Since getting an open-wheel test in a Skip Barber Racing School car, Chastain got the itch. He is still in awe of what someone like Larson is able to do.

“Larson is a freak of nature, the way he can jump in things and go fast and go put himself inside, you know, the top 10 of the Indy 500. So, yeah, Justin knows that [I want to race the Indy 500], and you know, I’ll keep working to keep racing.”

As long as Chastain stays healthy, he’s got a long career ahead of him. Good thing he is working with the best in the business to make sure that continues to be true.

Faster mile time, faster on the track

One of the best programs in motorsports right now is the Wise Optimization program. Former driver Josh Wise has developed a fitness program that has been picked up by GM and Chevy in order to get their drivers ready to perform.

Wise works with development drivers like 14-year-old Tristan McKee all the way to the biggest stars in the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series fields. His work has been lauded by several drivers in recent years.

For Ross Chastain, it changed how he viewed his own fitness in relation to racing on Sundays.

“If you opt-in, then you can be in Josh’s program and you work it through Chevy, but he’s gotten me to a point where I cycle and run, and got me down to a 5:30 mile,” Chastain explained. “Like, at 31 years old last year, 31 years old. … But you know, I’m proud of my [time] because when I met Josh, I could run, like, a 7-minute mile and I’ve crept it down.”

Then there is the biggest change, Chastain’s shoulder. Training made him realize he had been fighting the car too hard for years. Stronger now, the change is night and day.

“I used to think that my shoulder pain was just normal. I thought everybody had that their right shoulder hurt, and I realized, no, that was – I had issues. But I didn’t have to have any surgeries, fortunately, but it was weak, and then it was inflamed, so everything hurt all the time. … [Now] I feel so much better.”

Confidence is not always innate. There are those who have to earn confidence. Chastain has improved his fitness in the last few years. That has led to direct results on the track. Racing is a sport and these drivers are athletes. The ones who treat themselves that way are going to be the most successful.

Ross Chastain was not always the Busch Light guy. He didn’t always drive the No. 1 Chevy for Trackhouse Racing. But that is who he is now and as he fully embraces it, off and on the track, the results will show.