Ross Chastain has yet to crack the code at Martinsville and get himself among the winner’s list of the track, even though his name is etched in the track’s lore for the “Hail Melon” move he pulled on October 30, 2022. Sadly, that doesn’t give him what he wants.
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On the final lap of the O’Reilly Auto Parts race in the track three years ago, Chastain sent his car into the wall and rode it through the corner, picking off rivals in a move that punched his ticket to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series title race. Now, he returns with a score to settle.
Chastain carries an average finish of 16.6 across 14 starts at the paperclip, with five runs inside the top 10. Digging deeper, in the Next Gen era, Chastain has kept the needle moving, posting an average finish of 9.8 over the last six races, with one result inside the top five. In fact, over the last three Martinsville races, Chastain has inched forward each time he has taken the green. He crossed the line in eighth in the penultimate race of 2024, then followed it up with sixth and fourth last season after starting from 17th and 13th. Step by step, lap by lap, he has worked his way into the front.
Ahead of the first short-track race of the season at the 0.526-mile oval, the No. 1 driver spoke about what makes Martinsville stand apart. “I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Clay Campbell (Martinsville Speedway President) up there a little bit and go to breakfast with him.”
“Hearing him tell stories of his family’s history in and around Martinsville and the legacy he wants to continue on is really cool. That grandfather clock is a real thing you can take home when you win, which is so cool.”
Chastain tied the track’s roots to the sport itself. “Everything in that track is built on the foundation around NASCAR and what the France family and the Campbell family have done together.” And now having come close to winning the grandfather trophy quite a few times, Chastain shared, “The grandfather clock is something that I want. I want it really bad, and I’ll work a really long time to try to take one home.”
So far this season, Chastain sits 20th in the standings with 115 points after six races, carrying an average finish of 19.8. His best run stands at third, which came at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
However, while Chastain hopes to succeed this Sunday, Trackhouse Racing, as a whole, has had to grind through the opening stretch. Shane van Gisbergen has shown pace on ovals with runs of 11th at Phoenix and 14th at Darlington. Zilisch has flashed his hand near the front, only to get caught in trouble when it mattered.
And the common thread between all the Trackhouse Racing drivers has been a lack of pace across the board, and that has left Chastain also fighting an uphill battle more often than not.
