Ross Chastain to Trackhouse, will drive the #1 in 2022

It was a mystery until today what would happen to the two current drivers of Chip Ganassi Racing, Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain. The domino has now fallen for one of the drivers, that being Ross Chastain. Today it was announced that Ross Chastain has signed a multi-year deal with Trackhouse Racing beginning in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Season. Chastain will be teammates with Daniel Suarez, who will return to the #99 car, and will pilot the new #1 Chevrolet Camaro.

Chastain said that Justin Marks, the founder, and co-owner of Trackhouse Racing, gave him a lot of advice over the years and that made him comfortable during the negotiations in the last month. They both ran a truck owned by former NASCAR driver, Stacy Compton, in 2011.

“I’ve felt good about it all along,” Chastain said in an interview with Bob Pockrass, “I probably was a little naive to all of the inter-workings of what all goes into this because this is so over my head. I truly just focus on racecars and then, you know, I know it’s National Watermelon Day and it’s Watermelon Day every day in my life!

“It’s always been important from day one at Trackhouse to build a racing brand that’s bigger than any one person, bigger than any one person’s history with the manufacturer, number, anything like that,” Justin Marks said in an interview, “Ross and I both won in the 42, that’s not lost on me, the 42 has got a lineage in this sport, but we really just love the idea of having the 99 and 1.”

Marks would explain that he sees how unique it could be to build the brand of Trackhouse Racing with the two numbers. He said he can start a new era with a number that also has a good history in the sport. The #1 that is coming from Chip Ganassi can be traced all the way back to Dale Earnhardt Inc. when Steve Park drove the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet in the late ’90s and early 2000s. That same number would also be driven by Martin Truex Jr in his early Cup racing days, then later would transfer over when DEI and Ganassi merged as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. That number would also go on to win the 2010 Daytona 500 with Jamie McMurray and currently has been occupied by Kurt Busch since 2019.

“Ross is a young, aggressive driver that we believe has the talent to win races at the Cup Series level. We think his personality & work ethic will fit perfectly with Daniel as we build our organization for the 2022 season and beyond.” Marks also said in an interview with Bob Pockrass.

Marks also mentioned how the current No. 42 team is running well right now, and the last thing he wants to do is break up any momentum. He says that is what is going to be part of the process in the next couple of months as Chastain is fighting to make the 2021 NASCAR Cup Playoffs.

Kurt Busch, Ross’ current teammate, also tweeted regarding the announcement, saying “Very happy for @RossChastain. He’s a young, talented, motivated, self-driven driver who’s going to win many times in Cup. He reminds me a lot of me when I was younger, only with a SLIGHTLY cooler temperament.”

The jury is still out on where Kurt Busch will racing for in 2022, as he has stated he wants to continue racing in any means possible. Busch recently won the summer Atlanta race in July, outdueling his brother Kyle. Kurt Busch is currently a top candidate for a second car at 23XI Racing.

Ross Chastain worked his way up with many small teams until getting his big break with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Xfinity program late in the 2018 season. This included a win in his second start in the ride at Las Vegas. He would be scheduled to run for Ganassi’s Xfinity program in 2019, but the deal fell through after sponsorship issues. He would go on to run across the Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series that included winning races and a trip to the championship four in the Truck Series for Niece Motorsports, as well as a couple of wins with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series. Chastain got the call from Ganassi to take over the No. 42 ride for 2021. Chastain’s best career finish is 2nd at Nashville back in June.

Trackhouse Racing is part of the Next-Generation of teams in NASCAR, added on to LiveFast Motorsports, 23XI Racing, Jeff Gordon now taking a higher role at Hendrick, Brad Keselowski going the Roush and Kaulig Racing. It’s safe to say that even by 2025, NASCAR is going to look a lot different than it ever has been. Justin Marks has a fast-growing brand at Trackhouse and will be a team to watch for 2022 on beyond, in a recent interview, he’s even expressed interest in running a Trackhouse team for the Indianapolis 500 in the future.