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NASCAR Cup Series Star Ross Chastain Enters Utica-Rome Speedway Richie Evans Remembered™ Event

VERNON, NY  NASCAR Cup Series star Ross Chastain is going Northeastern dirt Modified racing.

Chastain, affectionately known as the Melon Man™ for his family™s watermelon-farming roots, will compete at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y., on Thursday, July 20 during the Richie Evans Remembered™ Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco event.

Chastain will take part in the 61-lap, $6,100-to-win STSS Modified event as a teammate to reigning track champion Matt Sheppard.

While Chastain, 30, who competes full-time in NASCAR Cup competition for Trackhouse Racing, has entered dirt-track Super Late Model races, he has never turned a lap in a center-steer Northeastern dirt Modified.  

Chastain, of Alva, Fla., forged a connection with Sheppard™s Hurlock Auto & Speed No. 9s race team via the Delaware-based Givens family, watermelon farmers, growers for Melon 1 and supporters of both Sheppard and Chastain.

The conversation, which included Sheppard and supporter Alfred Hughes, a friend of the Givens, led to Chastain making his Modified debut with the STSS.

The Richie Evans Remembered™ event, celebrating the legacy of Rome, N.Y.™s Richie Evans, a NASCAR Hall of Fame member, coincides with the NASCAR weekend at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., affording Chastain the opportunity.

œI can't wait to get to Utica-Rome Speedway to participate in the Richie Evans Remembered 61 event with the STSS Modifieds and Matt Sheppard,? Chastain said.

œWhen the Givens family brought me this opportunity, I had to take advantage of it. Matt runs a first-class program, and I am thankful for the chance to race with some of the best, honoring one of the best, Richie Evans. Although I have never competed in a Northeastern dirt Modified, I am excited to learn and compete before Pocono.?

Chastain will be available to meet fans in the grandstand area from 5-5:30 p.m. He will sign autographs alongside Sheppard before heading back to the pit area to compete.

The Richie Evans Remembered™ program includes the STSS Modifieds paying $6,100 to win, $1,000 for 10th and $610 to start in a River Valley Builders North Region event plus STSS Crate 602 Sportsman battling 30 laps for $2,061 to win in the Precision Hydraulic & Oil North Region plus the Senior Services Inc. Allstar Slingshots and Junior Slingshots on the inner oval.

Grandstand admission is $28. Seniors (ages 65 and up) pay $26. Kids 11 and under are FREE.

Pit admission is $45 (ages 13 and up), $40 (NASCAR or Utica-Rome Member), $10 for Kids (ages 6-12) and $2 for Children (ages 5 and under).

Gates open at 4 p.m., with hot laps at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7:15 p.m.

A complete information sheet has been posted on the Short Track Super Series website: https://shorttracksuperseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RichieEvansGeneralInfoSheet.pdf

Utica-Rome Speedway is located at 5591 NY-5 (Seneca Turnpike) Vernon, NY 13476. The official website is www.uticaromespeedway.com and the speedway can be reached by phone at 315.953.4097.  Like Utica-Rome Speedway on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @UR_Speedway.

Utica-Rome Speedway is a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series facility.

To learn more about the Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco, visit www.shorttracksuperseries.com, e-mail bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com, check out Short Track Super Series™ on Facebook or @ShortTrackSS on Twitter or Instagram.

The Short Track Super Series is presented by American Racer/Lias Tire, Sunoco Race Fuel, FloSports, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Rent Equip/Party Central, BDR Speed, Bicknell Racing Products, Ollie™s, Penske Racing Shocks, Wegner Automotive, River Valley Builders, Behrent™s Performance Warehouse, DIG Race Products, Velocita-USA, Franklin Products, Design for Vision & Sunglass Central, Belmont™s Garage, Quality Drywall, Precision Hydraulic & Oil, Prime MAC Tools, F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Algonkin Motel, Beyea Custom Headers, Dirt Track Digest, EIBACH, Electric Neon Custom Signs, Fastline Performance, Flach Performance Products, Henry™s Exhaust, Hig Fab, Schultz Racing Fuel Cells, Spyder Filters, Superior Remodeling, Teo-Pro Car, VAHLCO & Wilwood.

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