Ross Chastain may know Road America, but he’s quickly learning that racing the 4.048-mile 14-turn circuit in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 vs. his familiar NASCAR Cup and Xfinity machinery is a whole new ballgame.
Chastain, normally racing in NASCAR with Trackhouse Racing, will make his first IMSA start in Saturday afternoon’s Road America 120 for the Michelin Pilot Challenge, joining Ken Fukuda in the No. 16 Skip Barber Racing Aston Martin. Coincidentally, Chastain’s background includes watermelon farming, and he’s competing in his first sportscar race on National Watermelon Day. Several factors came together to create the opportunity — NASCAR’s Olympics break; a relationship with Skip Barber Racing that goes back to his using the school to learn Circuit of The Americas (where he won); and a desire to return to the repaved circuit that NASCAR left off the schedule in favor of the Chicago street race.
“After the repave I wanted to come up here and run it,” Chastain explains. “If NASCAR wasn’t going to come up here, I was gonna find a way. I didn’t know how, but this opportunity came together. With this car, I’m driving past every brake marker I’ve ever learned, and I’m still wide open – and and I’m still not driving deep enough. This car, the brakes, the ABS, the tires — they just have so much more potential than our Xfinity or Cup cars ever had here. It’s a little unnerving. I’m going slower getting there – for me it’s human nature to resort back to some old habits – but I’m breaking those habits and Ken’s on me to drive further, push the brakes harder.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
Chastain had coaching from Fukuda, having revisited the school to improve his road racing skills or learn a new track, so Fukuda is well equipped to help him get up to speed in the Aston Martin, even if it’s not happening as quickly as Chastain would like.
“About lap three on track, they keyed up and asked me if I was fully running, like fully pushing the car yet and I said yeah. I was out there with my tongue hanging out, trying to learn, and I was happy to let cars go by – they were definitely making a lot more lap time. I was like, ‘OK, yeah, I’m not up to speed here.’ But a couple of breaks for cautions and some checking tire pressures and stuff just gave me a minute to think, and watching Ken then run was helpful. I did end both sessions sliding off in Turn 14, so I’ve mowed the grass well. I didn’t have to stop, just rolled on back to pit lane, so finding the limits for sure. Those first couple of laps were slow, but in my mind, I was flying around here, but we’ve made quite a bit of lap time since then.”
In the race, Chastain will make his first driver change since he was 14 doing a street stock switch-off race, another thing he has to learn along with the capabilities of the Aston Martin, ABS, and traction control. Fukuda, who is the IMSA Driver Diversity Scholarship winner for 2024-’25, has respect for NASCAR veteran even making the attempt.
“I think it’s a brave thing,” Fukuda said. “He’s an established figure in his series, in his wheelhouse, even though he can drive anything because he’s a wheel man. But to come over here, and to come to IMSA … I mean, Michelin Pilot Challenge, it’s extremely competitive, if not the most competitive series in the world. It’s a premier series, and it’s a completely different car. To say, ‘I don’t care, I love driving. I want to learn, I want to figure this out…’ And he’s interacting with every single fan.”
The Road America 120 is scheduled for green at 2:45 p.m. ET. Fukuda will roll off the grid 17th in the Grand Sport class.