Imagine it’s the 2022 Martinsville race, and you have just witnessed the famed ‘Hail Melon’ move by Ross Chastain. While you are in complete disbelief of what you have just seen, out comes a clean-shaven #1 driver. Unimaginable, right? Chastain is known for his rugged and aggressive driving style. The no-beard look just doesn’t suit him! Hence, a clean-shaven Chastain thrashing the watermelon at Kansas just didn’t feel the same.

Even the ‘melon man’ had instant regret after making what felt like an impulsive decision. “It scares me in the morning. It’s already bad before. Now it’s real bad,” is what Chastain had told The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck. However, actions come with consequences and it wasn’t just becoming a laughing stock in the #1’s case. Recently, Dale Earnhardt Jr, a mascot of beards in NASCAR, could not help but ask, “Why?” In the conversation, Chastain revealed a rather serious consequence he faced after his actions.

Ross Chastain opens up on clean shaving and what followed

NASCAR fans were shellshocked when they saw his new look. This was just before the playoff opener at Atlanta. The Trackhouse driver, after being winless in the regular season, failed to make the cut. This was surprising to many, including the 2022 Championship 4 participant himself. Chastain missed out on qualifying by just 29 points. It looked like the #1’s beard was the sufferer of his frustration. Chastain had also taken it to Instagram to share his fresh cut, writing, “Missed the cut and got a cut. ✂️”

Ross Chastain also confirmed the same being the reason on the recent episode of the Dale Earnhadt Jr podcast. When Jr. asked, “Why shave?” Chastain promptly said, “Why not?” But Jr. knew that wasn’t the whole truth and urged Chastain to share it. “No, there’s not (any reason). I mean, we missed the playoffs. I don’t know. It’s like when a girl dyes her hair after a breakup.” Whether it was because of not qualifying or it wasn’t, Chastain did not imagine it would evoke such reactions, especially from his sponsors.

Busch Light, the beer brand of Anheuser-Busch, signed a multi-year partnership with the Florida native at the start of the 2024 season. As part of the partnership, the driver becomes an ambassador for the brand and photoshoots become a norm. Initially, they had asked him how he wanted his facial hair to be. And Chastain naturally said he will sport a beard. Busch Light had told him that he would have to keep the same look throughout the year to have continuity in the photos, ad campaigns, etc. But with so much going on, the ‘melon man’ forgot. Having shaved after a long time, Chastain had cuts all across his face, covered by bandaids as he entered the garage the next day. Already regretting his decision, he also made people at Busch Light upset.

Narrating the incident, Chastain said, “The first day I (shaved), it was a bloodbath. I had bandaids when I went in the shop that day. My guys were laughing at me…I didn’t even think about it (consequences) when I shaved. David Erickson (Chastain’s management) found out, he’s like, ‘Do you not remember the meeting with Busch light at St Louis and what they said?'”

Probably the reason why we haven’t seen any recent posts featuring Chastain on the Busch Light social media pages. Further in the conversation, Dale Jr and Chastain dwelled on more beard-related shenanigans, as Jr. revealed the story of when he decided to grow a beard.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s beard story

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Maintaining a clean-shaven look requires the same amount of effort, if not more, than maintaining a beard. Facial hair grows faster, and every other day, the razor is out! Ross Chastain plans to keep the look till Phoenix and that would be the end of it. “So I’m gonna shave for Phoenix and I’m not shaving for a while,” he added. That’s going to be a lot of shaving for two weeks. This had Dale Jr. reminded of the time he had to keep a clean-shaven look.

He said, “I was part of the Gillette young guns, can’t have a full beard, which I probably wouldn’t have grown one back then anyways, but I did have mustache or goatee kind of all the time. They were like, you gotta be shaving shaving shaving, and as soon as that deal ended, no more for me, no more shaving, and I have had a beard ever since.”

However, Dale Jr also recently made the impulsive decision of shaving it off previously this year. It was more of battling a midlife crisis than anything else for Jr. According to him, he was doing the bare minimum, lazing around in his sweatpants all day. This was when he decided to bring a change and cut it off and surprise his wife, Amy Earnhardt, “That was about a span of five days where I was like ‘[If] this continues, this could become permanent.’ I was thinking like ‘Man I am gonna get a haircut!’ Amy scheduled me this haircut and I thought, ‘Man I’m just gonna give her a clean slate… blank canvas.'”

Thankfully, he’s back to his old bearded self that we recognize. What are your thoughts on Chastain’s clean-shaven look? Let us know in the comments below.