Ross Chastain was buzzing after this past Sunday's win at Talladega, which marked his first ever superspeedway win.
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During the celebration in Victory Lane, the 29-year-old Florida native was in a big-time giving mood and decided to surprise one lucky young fan with a piece of tire from his No. 1 Chevrolet as well as a piece of smashed watermelon from his iconic post-victory celebration.
Basking in his own special moment, the boy did what most adult fans probably wouldn't have done after receiving a piece of watermelon from a race track: he ate it. This kid parties!
‘@RossChastain gave a kid a piece of his watermelon after winning at @TALLADEGA. 🍉
(Via Talladega) pic.twitter.com/cSTJLXqe3T
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) April 24, 2022
Now, it's clear that Ross Chastain is really coming into his own in 2022, as the Trackhouse Racing Team driver's win at the Geico 500 marked his second Cup win in five races.
During the final laps leading up to his win, Chastain tried a different approach than he usually attempts on superspeedways: he just stayed put.
It's a move that paid off, because as Kyle Larson and Erik Jones jockeyed for the top spot, Chastain held his course and miraculously avoided the massive wreck that took out the likes of Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, and Corey LaJoie.
"I'm always the one going to the top early and making the mistake and there at the end it was like eight to go, and I was like, 'I'm not going up there again,'" Chastain said after the race. "I did that a couple of times, I was like, 'I'll just ride on the bottom. I'm not going to lose the race for us.'
"I have no idea. They just kept going up. They just kept moving out of the way."
When asked in the post-race interview if he thought his first season with Trackhouse would've started off with such a bang, Chastain kept it real.
"Are you kidding me? I've wrecked myself so many times and gotten into it with guys," Chastain said.
"Justin Marks and what he laid out for us was ambitious. I had no idea what to expect other than I knew I had my group from last year. [Sponsors are] believing in us. We started the year with a lot of races open [for funding]. We're almost full now, and it's because of the vision of Justin Marks.
"We won, dude!"
With wins at Dega and Circuit of the Americas this season, Chastain also placed third at Las Vegas, second at Phoenix, and second at Atlanta.
Obviously, a lot can happen in the coming months, but as it stands now, Chastain is ninth in the Cup Series standings and is currently in the playoff picture. Can the Melon Man get it done come November? Crazier things have happened.
