Ross Chastain admits he was a little lost.
And a little envious.
Last weekend, the NASCAR veteran’s visit to Daytona International Speedway to plug the Feb. 15 Daytona 500 coincided with IMSA’s Roar Before the Rolex 24 preseason test window. Chastain hails from Alva, Florida, so he’s known about the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance classic for a long time. Just never had any involvement with it.
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So what he witnessed felt foreign, even to a guy with 13 victories across NASCAR’s Cup, O’Reilly and Truck series since 2018.
“Oh man, I’m jealous of all those drivers,” Chastain told the News-Journal. “Growing up a Florida boy, I’ve always known about that race, but I’d never participated in it, and I don’t really understand all the workings of that garage. I know NASCAR, O’Reilly, Trucks — I know all this stuff, but I don’t know how to navigate that garage. Kind of using my time while I was there talking about the Daytona 500 to just peek in and see and get a lay of the land.”
Despite what he lets on, Chastain isn’t a complete stranger to IMSA, NASCAR’s sports-car arm and the overseer of the Rolex 24.
During NASCAR’s two-week break for the summer Olympics in 2024, he ran one event in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA’s second-tier circuit. His Skip Barber Racing team finished 24th at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
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And yes, he harbors dreams of competing in the Rolex.
“I don’t know anything of how that would ever look, but I’ve got aspirations to do it,” he said.
Luckily, Chastain possesses a connection or two in the racing world.
Connor Zilisch, Chastain’s 19-year-old Trackhouse Racing teammate in the Cup Series, has become a Rolex 24 regular. The 2026 race will be his third straight appearance, each in a different classification. He will pilot the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac prototype on Saturday and Sunday.
During Chastain’s Roar trip, he met with Zilisch. The team allowed him to plug into its radio and hear Zilisch’s communication with the engineers, on-track drivers and all the other chatter.
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“The breakdown of the data behind the scenes is really, really cool,” Chastain said. “That’s kind of what I get geeked out on, just all the inner workings of the team and different people. I got to shake their hands, and I got to sit down for 30 minutes and listen.”
Bottom line:
“I don’t grasp how they really do it, but still,” he said. “I knew more leaving than I knew walking in the gate that day.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR driver Ross Chastain makes Rolex 24 visit with Connor Zilisch
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