Chastain credits his dad for allowing him to feed his addiction and aspirations, allowing him to take time off on Saturdays from the farm to go race — when it didn’t rain. To this day, Chastain is grateful for that opportunity because the family’s farm was in good shape and wasn’t struggling. Therefore, he could take the time off.
Had the farm been struggling, Chastain wouldn’t have been permitted to race.
“Our bad years since I’ve been alive haven’t been as bad as they had been say 100 years ago,” Chastain said. “Farming wasn’t a glamorous life. We have been fortunate that we haven’t had the really, really, really bad times that my family has experienced over the generations.
“If farming was worse, we would not have been racing.”
When Chastain was in a race car, he was successful, winning more than 50 features during his short-track career.
The time he realized he might have a future in racing came in 2011 when he was 18 at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. He won three of eight races in the limited late model class and won the overall title.
Seven months later, Chastain made his NASCAR debut with the Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Indiana’s Lucas Oil Raceway. He started 15th and finished 10th.
Since then, Chastain has driven for a long list of Truck Series teams and many of those opportunities started with strong showings.
In 2012, while driving for SS-Green Light Racing, Chastain finished seventh in the second race of the season. In 2013, he finished 14th in his debut with Brad Keselowski Racing and ran ninth in his third start with the team.
In 2014 during his first two Xfinity Series starts with Viva Motorsports, Chastain had a pair of top-20 finishes. In 2015, his first Xfinity Series season with Johnny Davis and JD Motorsports, Chastain finished ninth at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
This year, in his first Daytona 500, he finished 10th after starting 36th while driving for Premium Motorsports.
Chastain isnt’s frustrated that he hasn’t had more consistent rides with fewer teams. Rather, he’s simply grateful for the opportunity, no matter the team.
“I try to be better than the last guy that drove,” Chastain said.
He doesn’t attribute the strong showings to skill as much as he does for luck and timing.
Through the end of August, Chastain had competed in 291 NASCAR races (59 Cup Series, 155 Xfinity Series and 77 Truck Series) out of a possible 487 — nearly 60 percent.
“I’ve been fortunate to keep on racing,” he said.
Chastain’s first NASCAR victory came in 2018 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“There were no words,” Chastain said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or cry or laugh or pass out, throw up; I didn’t know what was going to happen. We got through it without crying publicly. There were some tears afterward; after the weekend settled down and thinking about all that happened to get there.”
In July, Chastain won the Xfinity Series race at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” he said of winning at the legendary track. “You have no control. When you win in NASCAR for your first time and even for me every time, you’ve worked so hard to get here and try to do all the right things and sacrifice what you feel like is so much. I’m glad I’m the guy jumping around screaming because I’m excited.”