“It OK to Go Win” – Hoping to Build on His 5th Place Finish, the “Hail Melon” Showstopper Ross Chastain Lays Down the Plan for Kansas

Heading into the 2nd race of the playoff is the ever-polarizing Trackhouse Racing sensation, Ross Chastain. While the driver has settled down on his “wrecking ball” attitude, the #1 Chevy hasn’t lost any steam. Chastain delivered a splendid top 5 finish last week at the “tough to tame” Darlington. Doing so, he announced his entry into the playoff stage.

Chastain shattered everyone’s imagination last year. He pulled off the impossible “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville to spear his way into the Championship Four. Now, the action heads toward a thrilling Speedway run at Kansas. And Chastain has revealed his psyche as the action changes gears.

The “Hail Melon” mastermind, Ross Chastain opens up about his playoff contention

The scene was set for the #11 Denny Hamlin, who was looking to clinch his first title and looking to make the final four. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran was fourth when, out of nowhere, the #1 Chevy zoomed past the #11 Toyota. In the final minute of the last lap, Chastain edged out the veteran to make the championship four.

Chastain pulled off a near-impossible move that literally looked like a video game gimmick. In the final lap, as he entered the final turns (3 & 4), the Trackhouse Racing driver passed five cars in one stride. Not only did Chastain open dimensions with his wild move, but the driver beat his rival (Denny Hamlin) in the most epic way possible. By doing so, he denied the veteran a shot at the title.

However, the authorities banned the infamous move, citing safety concerns. As the community now awaits the 2nd playoff decider, Chastain mentioned his altered mindset. When asked by Fox’s Bob Pockrass, “Is it because you stress out over things that you could have done? Or is it more just trying to figure out OK, how do I get to the next round?” 

The ‘Watermelon Man’ simply said, “I don’t actually. I study the past, but fortunately for me, the way my brain works, it’s on to the next thing, so I really have to work on focusing on the here and the now.”

His words signified a more mature Chastain rather than the old ‘wrecking ball’ we knew. “I can’t control the past and I cannot control the future. I just kind of work on what’s immediately in front of me. And last year, yeah, there were moments that I either was too aggressive or not aggressive enough — and not that, that same scenario is going to be this year, but I’ve done all this once,” he added.

READ MORE: Ross Chastain Sends Out an 8-Word Comment Concerning NASCAR Grid

Finally, he concluded by saying, “It is OK to just be OK in some of the races when tires are blowing, people are blowing motors, crashes — it’s OK to just be OK. But then, there’s other times where it’s OK to go win, too.”

“Just go beat them” – Chastain hints something bigger

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With the “tough” short track action at Darlington in the past, we have a Speedway run at Kansas and the Bristol race till we head to the next stage of the playoffs. Losing his bleak underwhelming streak of performance, Chastain picked up valuable points as he delivered an impeccable top 5 finish last week to start of his playoff adventure.

When asked about what he felt about the upcoming races at Kansas and Bristol, he said, “If I could pick three races in NASCAR to run, my order would be Bristol, Kansas, Darlington building up to the Southern 500. We just have flip-flopped on dates. But these are the three tracks that I probably most enjoy going to — add Homestead in there as well, probably because it’s so close to home.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Denny Hamlin lashes out at Michael Jordan’s driver for ruining his Darlington performance 

Furthermore, Justin Marks’ driver revealed he had nothing up his sleeve, no ‘Hail Melon’. But hinted something bigger in the fray. “Nothing up these sleeves, Bob. Nothing trick. We’ll just go try to scrape up as many points as we can each round and transfer through. We can win one of these or a few of these. It’s OK to win. Somebody’s got to. No Hail Melon. Just go beat them,” said the driver.