2022 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Kansas Advance

Ross Chastain has enjoyed a career year in 2022.

The 29-year-old Alva, Florida native has led 269 laps, finished in the top-three in half the races, and earned his and Trackhouse Racing’s first two NASCAR Cup Series victories – Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 27 and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 24.

What he has yet to do in 2022 is take long time sponsor AdventHealth to victory lane with him.

Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City might be the perfect time to check that box.

The Florida-based healthcare provider is sponsoring Sunday’s Cup Series AdventHealth 400 event.

“AdventHealth sort of owning the weekend, if you will, at Kansas Speedway is a snap shot of how they’ve supported me from 2020 until now,” said Chastain.

“I go back to the beginning and think how they took a chance on me and have supported me and how neat that is.”

Before hitting the track in his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro, Chastain will make slower laps around the 1.5-mile Kansas track.

“I’m excited for the AdventHealth track walk on Friday evening to benefit the AdventHealth Foundation,” said Chastain. “It will be fun to talk with some fans and walk the track. I’m used to doing track walks at road courses, but at oval tracks, we take it for granted that we know the track. I know there’s a bump in Turn 1 that changes every year, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much that has changed too.”

AdventHealth is also sponsorsing Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Heart of America 200. The name was selected through an internal employee contest.

After more than 600 submissions, Jeff Sluder, laboratory director at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission in Kansas, submitted the winning entry with Heart of America. Last week, Chastain visited Kansas Speedway to meet with AdventHealth representatives and unveiled the Heart of America 200 logo with Sluder.

Ross Chastain, Driver of the No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet

How important is Kansas to your career?

“Kansas brings back so many memories. I think back to my Truck Series win there in 2019 and winning is the ultimate goal. I think that win saved my career, honestly. Everything went away with my Xfinity Series ride and Chip Ganassi kept me on as a reserve driver and just to be nice is what it basically came down to. Doug Duchardt told me to just race whatever I could and we would figure it out. When things got serious about the No. 42 car going into the 2021 season, Doug brought up the fact that even though they didn’t have anything for me to drive and Niece gave me the opportunity to drive their truck and we were able to win, Doug said it told him more about me than anything else, and I put a lot of stock in what Doug says. If I didn’t go win those races with Niece, I don’t know if I am in the Cup car where I am today.”

What do you find challenging about racing at Kansas Speedway?

“It’s wild because it is a mile-and-a-half and it has some of the same bones that most mile-and-a-half tracks have but there are intricacies at each intermediate track. The progressive banking at Kansas really rewards running higher on the track. It’s windy at Kansas and when you run up high you’re almost hidden from the wind a little bit and blocked from some of the cross winds.”

Now that you have a couple of wins under your belt and you’ve checked off getting that first career win, what do you think of your season so far?

“This year has been incredible. I feel grateful, but I also realize that we deserve to be where we are at. We’ve put in the effort and this car has been the greatest reset this sport has ever seen. Never before have you been able to take a car raced at a road course and change some suspension parts, run the same chassis and same body, and some of the same suspension, and pass tech and compete for wins.”