For the sixth time in the 2020 NASCAR season, Ross Chastain will be pulling double duty between the Cup and Xfinity Series on the same weekend. A day after he competes in the Xfinity Series’ inaugural oval-road course event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chastain will pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE sponsored by Melon Man Brand for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series’ oval-shaped event for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the famed racetrack on Sunday, July 5.
The Alva, Florida, native will make his sixth Cup start of this season, third in the No. 77 car for Spire Motorsports. His previous two starts in the No. 77 Chevrolet came in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May under a partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing. His other three Cup starts of this season were in the No. 6 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing, (Las Vegas, Auto Club and Phoenix), as an interim competitor for Ryan Newman, who was injured following his last lap accident in the Daytona 500.
Sunday’s 400-mile race at the Brickyard will mark the third time Chastain will race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a Cup Series car. He drove for Premium Motorsports at Indianapolis the previous two seasons, finishing 26th in 2018 and 22nd in 2019. After this weekend, he will have made his 77th Cup Series start.
“I’m excited to roll out the Melon Man Brand paint scheme this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Chastain said. “It’ll be fun to do something new. When we came up with the idea to create a personal brand, we wanted to do something different, something that would stand out. I think the look of the car and our branding initiatives check those boxes. Jeff [Dickerson] and T.J. [Puchyr] have supported me and my career without a moment’s hesitation, ever. It’s an honor for me to drive for Spire Motorsports this weekend in Indianapolis.”
Chastain, currently, races as a full-time competitor in the Xfinity Series in the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. He is ranked third in the regular-season series standings and has recorded four top-five results and 10 top-10 results despite being winless through the first 12 races. He is also coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes at Talladega Superspeedway and at Pocono Raceway, and has won two consecutive Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonuses. He has raced at Indianapolis as an oval-shaped venue in the Xfinity Series from 2015 to 2018, but this Saturday, July 4, will mark his first at the track’s oval-road course layout.
This season, Chastain has competed in 23 races across NASCAR’s three major division series as he has also competed in six NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races for Niece Motorsports. He has finished in the top 10 four times with a best result of third at Homestead-Miami Speedway on June 13.
The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 16th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.
