Trackhouse Racing superstar Ross Chastain’s playoff hopes hang by a thread with just four races left in the regular season. He sits in the bubble with just a seven-point lead over 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace. But should he end up in victory lane in one of the upcoming races, he will be through. And with that, he will smash open another watermelon on the race track.
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Chastain’s obsession with watermelons stems from his agricultural roots. He is an eighth-generation watermelon farmer based in Alva, Florida. Currently 31, he has declared to the racing world on numerous occasions that being a race car driver was something that was never on his books. Farming watermelons was what he had wanted to do instead. But in-born talent and fate took him down an alternate route.
Living so close to Daytona and having the chance to watch races in action instilled a sense of competitiveness in him as a child. He revealed, “Once I started racing at 12 years old. That’s where the light turned on. I want to be a race car driver. Want to beat the guys that I’ve watched. I want to race against them and beat them.” And so, the melons that his family harvested got a new purpose.
It’s National Watermelon Day!
Help us celebrate all of the hard working farmers by buying a seeded, seedless, red, yellow, orange or mini watermelon today. #MelonPartner #WatermelonEveryday pic.twitter.com/tR6IbnJCss
— Ross Chastain (@RossChastain) August 3, 2024
With the money coming in from the watermelon industry, Chastain climbed the ladder of motorsports. He continues to support and promote the industry to this day. He even took to social media this week to celebrate National Watermelon Day and wrote, “Help us celebrate all of the hard-working farmers by buying a seeded, seedless, red, yellow, orange, or mini watermelon today.”
When he won his first Cup Series race in COTA back in 2022, Chastain grabbed a watermelon and just sat down with it. He’d wanted to put the fruit in the spotlight for all that it has done for him. A media member who was present at victory lane had then suggested that he smash it so that it could be filmed. The driver obliged and ended up creating a viral moment and tradition.
The close association is what has led to him being known as the Watermelon Man. Such is the synonymity that the crazy move that he pulled at Martinsville in 2022 to enter the Championship 4 was named “Hail Melon.”
Current hopes are that he gets to smash another melon or two to secure himself a spot in the 2024 playoffs. He returns to racing at Richmond in a few days.
