Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Atlanta 1 Advance

Ross Chastain is piloting the No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s AdventHealth’s second race of the season, and it has special meaning.

While the AdventHealth Chevy traditionally carries Chastian’s name above the driver and passenger side door, this weekend the passenger side will have a different name.

Thiago (He-ah-go) Guzman will ride along with Chastain at Atlanta. Guzman is a six-year-old hepatoblastoma cancer survivor and two-time liver transplant recipient. Guzman suffered from liver rejection after his first transplant which resulted in a second liver transplant in March 2022. Guzman will meet Chastain and attend Sunday’s race with his family.

Guzman was part of Summit Quest, the cancer support partner of AdventHealth Redmond in Rome, Georgia. Summit Quest helps families with transportation, support groups and medical costs when needed. AdventHealth donates to Summit Quest and refers patients to them for additional support as they do not offer pediatric oncology at their Georgia locations.

Before heading to the track on Friday, Chastain will visit AdventHealth’s Redmond facility. The Alva, Florida native will meet employees and visit with patients. It’s the second consecutive year Chastain has visited the Rome, Georgia location.

“Getting the opportunity to visit the different AdventHealth facilities and meeting team members and patients is an incredible experience,” Chastain said. “I like to think that its a good distraction and morale boost when I get the chance to visit. Our well being depends on all of the healthcare workers and their dedication to helping us feel better, and Friday morning is an opportunity to spend time with the people who dedicate their lives to help others.”

Chastain hopes to put a good show for Guzman and AdventHealth. In last year’s spring Atlanta race, Chastain finished second after leading 42 laps. The 30-year-old driver followed it up with another runner-up finish at Atlanta last fall.

Last weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Chastain was headed towards a top-10 finish in overtime, until Denny Hamlin slammed into Chastain and relegated him to a 24th-place finish.

Despite a disappointing finish, Chastain still earned six stage points in the event. He and William Byron have each earned 48 stage points in the first four races – tied for the most of all drivers.

Chastain is second in the point standings, three points behind the leader.

In addition to driving the No. 1 Cup car this weekend, Chastain will join the Performance Racing Network booth to help broadcast Saturday’s Xfinity Race at 5 p.m. EDT. If all goes well, Chastain will call the race with his brother Chad Chastain behind the wheel for his first Xfinity Series start.

Fox will broadcast Sunday’s 400-mile race at 3 p.m. EDT.

Six-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Thiago Guzman

2023 Point Standings

Ross Chastain, Driver of the No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet

Two runner-up finishes at Atlanta last year, what is your goal this year?

“My goal is to finish one spot better and win the race. Finishing second is great, but I want to win for my team and all of our partners. Racing at Atlanta now is more superspeedway-like and we had two strong finishes last year. Of course, it’ll be a little bit different this time since we’ve had more time with this car, but if you’re anywhere close to the front and there’s a late race restart, I’d say you have a good chance at winning.”

We’re seeing more drivers joining broadcasts from the television and radio booths, why is that?

“Calling a race from the radio or the television booth always gives you a different perspective. Its fun to do something different. It’ll be good distraction for me while my brother (Chad Chastain) is out there on the track for his first Xfinity race.”

Chastain Notes

• 2023 marks Chastain’s third full-time Cup Series season. The Chevrolet driver’s first Cup Series start occurred in 2017.
• In 2022, Chastain won his first career Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 27 and his second at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 24.
• The Chevrolet driver finished second in the season ending championship standings.
• Voted 2022 National Motorsports Press Association’s Driver of the Year.
• Known for the “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway that has garnered over 225 million views and 1.2B impressions.
• Moose car from Martinsville topped all diecasts in sales for 2022.
• Chastain owns 197 Xfinity Series starts with two wins (Las Vegas in Sept. 2018, and Daytona in July 2019), 23 top-five and 49 top-10 finishes.
• The Florida native has 100 Craftsman Truck Series starts with four wins, three earned in 2019, and one in 2022 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 19 top-five and 44 top-10 finishes.
• Chastain joined Trackhouse Racing for the 2022 season after Chip Ganassi Racing was acquired last off season by Justin Marks.
• Chastain has driven for Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing in the Cup Series before his first full-time season in 2021.