Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing All-Star Advance

Ross Chastain was three years old in 1996 – the last time the NASCAR Cup Series raced at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

Chastain, the series points leader, and the rest of the Cup field will race for a $1 million check Sunday night in the 39th-annual All-Star Race held for the first time on the .625-mile oval that has undergone a $20 million face lift.

While he might not remember races at North Wilkesboro, Chastain is going to spend a lot of time at the track that sits about an hour’s drive north of Charlotte.

Before Sunday’s All-Star Race, he will race in the CARS Tour Wednesday night where Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks will drive the pace car. Chastain will also drive the No. 41 Worldwide Express Silverado for Niece Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series on Saturday afternoon.

A pit stop contest Friday will set the starting lineups for the Saturday qualifying races that will determine the grid for Sunday’s All-Star Race. Chastain is locked into the All-Star race after winning at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 2022

He’ll once again race No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet as he did last week in Darlington (S.C.) Raceway where he led 93 laps, won his fourth stage of the season and 11th of his career and led on in the final laps before he and Kyle Larson collided and ended his race with a 29th-place finish.

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Fox Sports 1 will broadcast Sunday night’s All-Star race at 8 p.m. EDT.

2023 Standings

Ross Chastain, Driver of the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet

What do you think about going to North Wilkesboro this weekend?

“I’ve only ever driven by North Wilkesboro and known it as a closed racetrack. There has been a lot of hype over this race weekend and obviously Marcus Smith and a lot of others have put a lot of effort into making it happen. It will be fun to go up there and check it all out. I’m going to get my feet wet with the late model race and hopefully get more comfortable with the track, and then the truck race on Saturday afternoon before going for the million dollars on Sunday night.”

Everyone has a different perspective of North Wilkesboro, what do you remember about it?

“It’s neat to hear the different perspectives everyone has on North Wilkesboro. You hear a lot people talk about going there back when the Cup Series still ran there. And then you have guys like me who were little kids when the series stopped racing there and a fair amount of people who weren’t born yet. I hope everything goes smoothly with all of the different events and that the fans pack the stands and we can have a little fun this weekend.”

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 199 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 105 Craftsman Truck Series starts with four wins, three earned in 2019, and one in 2022 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 21 top-five and 46 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.