DOVER, D.E. (September 30, 2017) – Ross Chastain announced yesterday in the Dover International Speedway media center that he will be returning to the No. 4 car with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller full-time in the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
“I’m very excited to announce that I will be back in the No. 4 car with JDM next year,” said Chastain. “Three years ago, I got a call from Johnny, and we started building this empire together. We’ve got a long way to go, we’ve got a lot more to accomplish together, and that’s why I’m so happy to be back in the No. 4 car.”
Chastain has competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JD Motorsports since 2015. Chastain has made one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start with Premium Motorsports earlier in 2017 and will compete in his second Cup race with them this weekend, and they are currently working on more Cup Series races togetehr in 2018. JDM team owner, Johnny Davis, and Premium Motorsports team owner, Jay Robinson, joined Chastain in media center for the announcement.
“We did the first race with Ross in June, and it turned out really well,” said Robinson. “Ross may be a young man, but he’s like a seasoned professional. Johnny and I have done a lot together for a long, long time, so when he called to talk about Ross, I was more than happy to accommodate.”
“I’m very excited that Ross came on board with JD Motorsports for another year,” said Davis. “He’s been a big part of growing this team to another level, and we look forward to many good years ahead of us to grow and get better.”
It was also announced that the Delaware Office of Highway Safety has renewed their sponsorship for 2018, and the “Protect Your Melon. Buckle Up.” and “Use Your Melon. Drive Sober.” campaigns will be on Chastain’s cars for next year’s Dover races. Mitch Topal, Delaware Office of Highway Safety Marketing and Communications Specialist, and Rachel Syngo, of the Florida Watermelon Association, also took part in yesterday’s press conference.
“Anyone who can bridge the gap between watermelons and racecars is a pretty special person,” said Topal. “We are really proud to be a sponsor of this race to get the ‘Use Your Melon. Drive Sober.’ message out, get people to click their seat belts, and not drink and drive. We’re really thrilled to be sponsoring the car and have Ross on our team.”
“We are a proud partner and always have been,” said Syngo. “This has brought watermelons to a whole new level. We’ve been involved since Ross started racing at age 12. To see this exposure for all of the farmers and growers that we represent go to a national scale is pretty amazing.”