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After winning his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas, Ross Chastain finally got the chance to display a watermelon celebration.
However, his first Cup win came in dramatic fashion after a last-lap battle with AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman in Austin. To celebrate the victory, Chastain climbed to the top of his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro, smashed a watermelon on the track and took a bite of the shattered watermelon.
This is why the Trackhouse Racing team driver is named the "Melon Man."
Chastain joined NASCAR in 2011. Since then, he and his team have always brought a watermelon to the track if needed as part of the victory ceremony. In a conversation with USA Today in 2019, Chastain said:
“I always wanted to bring watermelons with me, and they are a big part of why I’m here, no doubt about it. I knew companies, and I went to them and said, ‘I want to be a farmer in NASCAR,’ and they liked it.”
“My dad and uncle became old enough to farm on their own” - Ross Chastain
Ross Chastain’s family has been in the watermelon farming business for eight generations. His father and brother now manage watermelon farms. Speaking to the Associated Press after EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix win, Chastain said:
“My dad and uncle became old enough to farm on their own. They’ve grown the farm to an incredible spot. We just honed in on watermelons as the family business. It started eight generations ago. Really before that, 12 generations ago, they were farming, but back then, everybody farmed. We stuck with it, for better or worse, and every generation has stayed with it.”
Coming into his Cup Series performance, the 29-year-old had one win and four top-five finishes. The driver stands in sixth place in the Cup Series points table. He will be seen in action on Saturday for NASCAR’s shortest track race at Martinsville Speedway when the green-flag drops at 7:30 p.m. EST.
