How big is the Ross Chastain watermelon farm? All you need to know

Five-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Ross Chastain is well known for having been a watermelon farmer prior to venturing into stock car racing. The 2022 Cup Series runner-up's family owns a 400-acre-long watermelon farm located in South Florida.

Chastain was interviewed by Farm Talk back in 2022, his first season behind the wheel of the #1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. At the time of the interview, the Florida native already had two wins to his name at Circuit of the Americas and Talladega, respectively.

When it came to getting into racing, Chastain said the support from the watermelon industry made a huge impact.

“It [watermelon industry support] was everything to me from the very first race. Most people in the watermelon industry knew me from my family’s history in it, but they didn’t know me as a racecar driver. They took the blind faith approach,” he said.

Watermelons are an integral part of not only Chastain's life but of his branding in NASCAR. The Trackhouse Racing driver has sold "Melon Man" merchandise, such as T-shirts, hats, and much more. Chastain's last-lap wall ride maneuver at Martinsville in 2022, which clinched him a spot in the Championship 4 race, was nicknamed the "Hail Melon."

Chastain has made it his signature win celebration to smash a watermelon on the front stretch of the racetrack after winning a race. While it started as just a way to celebrate, the 32-year-old said it became a source of motivation.

"It’s a motivating thing now. Yeah, I want to smash it. But anybody — a tire changer, an engineer, a mechanic, the crew chief, the owner — they know that for me, for Ross Chastain, that watermelon means winning and we are here to win,” he added.

Chastain hopes to be in NASCAR for a long time but believes his younger brother, Chad, will have him back in a role on the family farm someday, adding that the watermelon growing process is very hands-on.

“We’re gladly anticipating somebody inventing a watermelon harvester, but we walk through on foot and pass them into the bus," Chastain said. "We touch them three times. They go in the bus, they come out of the bus and then they come off a table after they have been washed and weighed and sorted. Then they go into a bin.”

On the racing front, Chastain had to endure a tough 2024 season as he finished in the lower rung of the points table and failed to make it to the playoffs.

Ross Chastain finished 19th in the 2024 points standings

Ross Chastain during the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway - Source: Imagn

For the first time since joining Trackhouse Racing in 2022, Ross Chastain failed to make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. However, there was a bright spot for the driver of the #1 when he picked up a win at the Kansas Speedway in September.

Chastain recorded 14 top 10s, six top fives, and placed 19th in the points standings. It's his second-worst finish in the points, just above a 20th-place effort in 2020.

Ross Chastain has five wins in the Cup Series, with one win in 2024, two in 2023, and two in 2022. He finished runner-up in the Championship 4 to Joey Logano in 2022.