NASCAR Cup Series Driver Chastain Reunites with Driving Instructor, IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship Recipient Fukuda in Michelin Pilot Challenge
By Tony DiZinno
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Ross Chastain and Ken Fukuda completed an excellent adventure in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Road America, where the story of how they came together and ran their Grand Sport (GS) class No. 16 Skip Barber Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 outweighed the result.
Chastain, the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship runner-up, made a cameo appearance in his IMSA debut after reuniting with Fukuda, his one-time Skip Barber instructor. This arose thanks to a two-week gap in this year’s NASCAR schedule opened by the Paris Olympics break.
What the weekend revealed was Chastain’s hunger to learn and improve as much on road courses as there was a desire to eat his traditional watermelon on National Watermelon Day, which took place on race day, August 3.
In Fukuda, the 2024-25 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient, he had a built-in coach and co-driver for his first weekend sharing a car in more than a decade.
“I did do a street stock race when I was about 14 years old back home,” Chastain recalled of the last time he shared a car.
He had one slight seat adjustment back then, though.
“I was sitting on pillows because another driver was a little bigger and I was a little late hitting my growth spurt.
“But this feels the most natural because Ken has instructed me before. The Skip Barber instructors have been great.”
Just Where Is COTA Anyway? Skip Barber School Helps Chastain Learn Road Racing
Their relationship began after Chastain went down a self-described “1 a.m. YouTube rabbit hole” to discover more about Circuit of The Americas, where he won his first NASCAR Cup Series race with Justin Marks’ Trackhouse Racing in 2022. A year earlier, Chastain didn’t even know where COTA was on the map, and on-board video wasn’t enough to fulfill his appetite of learning about the Austin, Texas, track.
Enter Skip Barber Racing School, where Chastain enrolled in classes to gain experience as his NASCAR career ascended. Fukuda explained the background of Chastain’s Skip Barber arrival.
“It started off with listening in on classes for advanced work,” Fukuda said. “It was a case where we’ll throw Ross in the car, then do some right-seat coaching, video, data, telemetry, you name it.
“We’re coaching an established pro, but the ethos of Skip Barber Racing School is it doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter the years of experience. You have to figure out what’s being done differently to learn. He came here, he’s very good at that. It’s why he’s the wheelman he is today.”
The learning process during the weekend involved IMSA procedures such as driver changes, pit stops, drive-time windows, clock management of the two-hour race and yellow flag rules.
And, of course, the car itself. The GT4-specification Aston Martin varied significantly from the current NextGen (Generation 7) Cup car, as Chastain discovered how to best utilize the Michelin tires, brakes and driver aids such as the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traction control, which are standard in the Michelin Pilot Challenge machine.
“I’m driving past every brake marker here I’ve ever learned,” Chastain said. “This car with the brakes, tires and the ABS has way more potential than the Xfinity or Cup cars I’ve driven here. Ken’s been on me to drive harder and push the brakes harder.
“On my third lap on track, they keyed up (on the team radio) and asked if I was fully pushing the car, and I was. I was out with my tongue hanging out! I was happy to let other cars go by because they were definitely making a lot more lap time. Watching Ken helped. The first laps were slow I learned, but in my mind, I was flying.”
The race itself was a mixed bag. Fukuda qualified the car 17th and improved two spots on the opening lap but was later tapped into a spin by another Aston Martin. The damage inflicted on the No. 16 affected its rear bodywork and required later repairs.
Chastain took over shortly after the minimum drive-time of 40 minutes elapsed, completed his driver change and set to work for his first race stint in IMSA competition.
“That was my highlight for that 10-minute section,” Chastain laughed. “We practiced (the driver change) yesterday and had a good cadence for how he got out and I got in. It became real whenever it was time to do it in the race.
“But from there I didn’t get enough heat in my front tires, I guess, we took the green, and I didn’t turn (the car easily) the first five turns. I was in the way because I was working up to it.”
The recovery drive was on then, as the team was poised to deliver a strategic masterstroke. GS leaders in front of them pitted and Chastain settled into a consistent lap time rhythm, climbing as high as second place. A needed yellow flag to make a potential fuel-saving run evaporate didn’t fly in time, so Chastain pitted for a final splash with roughly 20 minutes to go. Bodywork repairs and a penalty assessed after leaving the pits left them in 16th place at the finish.
No Watermelons Were Smashed but It Was Still a Winning Weekend
The result didn’t matter as much as the weekend experience, however. Chastain expressed a desire to get back to Road America after it fell off the NASCAR calendar; he made five Xfinity Series and two Cup Series starts at the track. Fukuda relished the opportunity to see a wide range of fans and reunite with the Cup pro.
“I know there are a lot of reasons why we aren’t here. But I still want to be up here,” Chastain said of Road America. “Flying into Milwaukee, driving up, it’s a beautiful country.
“I’ve been to IMSA races before. It’s awesome. Pre-race because I wasn’t starting, I was literally just walking around. I enjoy it where normally I’m focused on the start of the race. It was fun!”
Fukuda added, “There are a lot of positives to take away and especially for Ross, who went seconds faster. We’re so thankful for Skip Barber and IMSA for this. Ross was going that quick in his stint but saving fuel. He has a lot of experience doing that. We were on a similar strategy to Winward (the team that finished eighth), unfortunately the drive-through killed us. We’ll come back stronger.”
Asked whether he and/or Marks’ Trackhouse team might make another IMSA appearance down the road, Chastain laughed and said, “If you think that I believe for a minute that I understand how Justin Marks’ brain works and what he’ll get into next, you don’t know me! Nobody in this world knows what he’ll get into next.
“When I was on track (Friday), some liveries here look the same as when I was a kid. That was a pinch-me moment. We just want to race, whatever it is. Could be wheelbarrows for me or lawnmowers for Ken. But yeah, Cup, Xfinity, trucks, IMSA, anything we can race.”
Fukuda said he had three jobs this weekend, playing co-driver, coach and fan host for all the Chastain fans. Fukuda joked that some of whom had “crashed-in one-side” diecasts in reference to Chastain’s “Hail Melon” run at Martinsville Speedway in 2022.
“I think it’s a brave thing,” Fukuda admitted. “He’s an established figure in his series, his wheelhouse. So to come to IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is extremely competitive, if not the most competitive series in the world. It’s a completely different car.
“To say ‘I don’t care, I want to learn, I love driving, and I want to figure this out’ is special. He’s interacting with every single fan.
“It’s taught me a lot about what a true pro looks like.”