Ross Chastain's Draw To Dirt Late Models: 'I've Fallen In Love With Them'

Instead of retreating to a calmer, drier place during a Thursday rain delay at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway that paused Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series action, Ross Chastain put himself front and center of the crowd that swelled around the Niece Motorsports transporter.

Of course, plenty of photo and autograph requests ensued. And Chastain didn’t have to put on a smile for the many that asked for a minute of his time. The NASCAR Cup Series star and former SportsCenter No. 1 for his famous wall-ride maneuver at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last fall was happily immersed in the laidback environment of Dirt Late Model racing.

“I’ve fallen in love with them,” the 30-year-old Chastain said of Dirt Late Models. “And the camaraderie, the family atmosphere, of coming to these dirt races. Everyone is super nice, the fans and competitors.”

The easygoing nature Chastain speaks of extends beyond the patrons, too. The one time Chastain stepped away from the entourage was when Devin Moran ushered over a thick binder of setup notes for Chastain and his teammate for the evening, big-block superstar Matt Sheppard, to look over.

Skillset-wise, Alva, Fla.’s Chastain is a foreigner among dirt racing’s best. On Thursday at the Delaware half-mile, he qualified 26th of 28 drivers and wasn’t close to making the 49-lap main event. After all, it was only his second career Dirt Late Model start.

Chastain has a handful of dirt track appearances: in the NASCAR Truck at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in 2019, the Cup car at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway each of the last three years, this May in a Late Model at South Carolina’s Cherokee Speedway, and last month in a big-block modified at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y.