2024 has turned out to be a big surprise for Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing. The #1 driver, who finished second in the points standings in his debut season at the race team, has now become the compromised contender sitting on that last undecided berth in the playoff picture. Cushioned only by a seven-point difference to the cutline, if anyone should be worried at Richmond, it is the ‘Melon Man.’ After all, the biggest threat to his shaky condition, Bubba Wallace, is also coincidentally only seven points from that last playoff spot, entering the 2024 Federated Auto Parts 400.

And although Chastain showed some promise during practice at Richmond’s return on Saturday, posting the 15th fastest lap time, Bubba’s #23 car simply showed out to be the better one at the end of it all. As it stands, the 23XI driver will start 8th for the Cup race on Sunday. Chastain? He will roll off the grid well behind Bubba in P22 alongside his Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez, on Row 11. Looks like the Melon Man might just be setting himself up for failure in his quest for a playoff position this season. But with only 4 races left for him to pull out a miracle, his conversations with Bob Pockrass would certainly leave those hoping for a grand Melon smash in 2024 grinning.

Ross Chastain vows to avoid peaking out at his worst

That top-5 finish at Sonoma came almost two months ago for Chastain. His win at the Phoenix championship race is also now a distinct memory. The #1 car has been a shell of its former self this year. And two top-5s in 22 races so far is evidence of that very fact. Like Bob Pockrass captioned his video interview with the man shared across social media platforms, “Ross Chastain has not had to worry about points the last couple years thanks to wins that have locked him in the playoffs by early summer. How he assesses 2024 knowing that a few years ago, he likely would have relished just the opportunity to battle for a playoff spot.”

Well, according to Ross Chastain’s reply to Bob Pockrass’ initial inquiry, “Once you taste winning and success, I’m a competitor, I just want more. I’m working towards just to make sure that these last two years were not the glory days. They were not the bright spot. I don’t believe that to be the case. So we definitely have not had the speed that we want. But speed can come and go. And it is a cyclical sport. Pun intended with driving in a circle.”

It appears that the Florida native is in high spirits this weekend. And he has to be after a two-week season-off that saw him make his IMSA debut the previous Saturday. Chastain didn’t do all that and finished 16th at Road America, driving the Skip Barber Racing Aston Martin GT4. But whether any of it translates into his Richmond advance on Sunday is still unclear. He finished 15th in the March race. And in his 11 appearances on Richmond’s 0.75-mile surface, Chastain has averaged a finish of 20.7 with his best outing coming at the 2023 Toyota Owners 400 last March, where he placed third.

All the drivers face a new challenge with Goodyear bringing their heavily talked about option tires to a points-paying race for the first-ever time. These option tires are softer and wear out faster, providing the chance to play out never-seen-before pit road strategy calls which more often than not end up becoming quite integral on Richmond’s tire-grater-esque surface. Speaking to Speedway Digest, Chastain revealed, ‘The trick is learning how long the soft tires will last. If you figure that out, you will have a leg up on everyone.”

Can he do himself one better than the rest come Sunday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.