NASCAR: Ross Chastain moving up to XFINITY Series with JD Motorsports - MotorSportsTalk

After making seven XFINITY Series starts in 2014, Ross Chastain has landed a full-time 2015 drive in NASCAR’s No. 2 national series with JD Motorsports.

Chastain will drive the No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro with support from Watermelon.org and the National Watermelon Association.

His connection with the refreshing fruit goes beyond sponsorship, as the 22-year-old Floridian was born and then grew up working on a farm that’s heavily involved in the watermelon industry.

“It’s great to be involved with Watermelon.org, and we want to take them along for a great ride this year,” Chastain said in a team release. “I’m looking forward to working with [team owner] Johnny [Davis] and his guys and making a mark this year in [the XFINITY Series].

“Ross has an amazing level of experience for a young driver,” Davis said. “He brings a lot to our team. We’re looking forward to seeing how far we can go this year with his input and the support of Watermelon.org and the National Watermelon Association. It’s going to be a big year.”

Chastain will team up with Sprint Cup veteran Landon Cassill in JD’s No. 01 Chevrolet and Harrison Rhodes in a third, as-of-now-unnumbered car.

Last season, Chastain’s best finish in the XFINITY Series was a 10th-place showing at Kentucky in the fall. He also made three starts in the Camping World Truck Series, where he ran the full schedule in 2012 (one Top-5, four Top-10s) and the majority of events in 2013 (four Top-5s, seven Top-10s in 14 starts).

Follow @estradawriting

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”