Defending Coca-Cola 600 Winner Ross Chastain Visits Arlington National Cemetery

Defending Coca-Cola 600 Winner Ross Chastain Visits Arlington National Cemetery

ARLINGTON, Va. (WFXR) — Continuing its annual tradition for the defending Coca-Cola 600 race winner, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain, team owner Justin Marks and a group of Coca-Cola partners and supporters to kick off Military Appreciation Month with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 servicemen and women and their families from every major United States conflict since the Revolutionary War.

As a prelude to the historic 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, Chastain joined Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Greg Walter in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“Coming up here I was very selfish (thinking) ‘we won the race; we get to come do this. After experiencing this, I realized this is not about me,” Chastain said following his visit. “This is about so many that paid the ultimate sacrifice. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and they lost who they were for us. We don’t know who is in there. It’s a much bigger picture on what that race (the Coca-Cola 600) is and what I didn’t grasp before. I know we’re very patriotic in what we do on the weekend, but seeing this brings a whole different meaning now.”

In addition to the wreath-laying, the group visited the gravesite of astronauts killed in the U.S. Challenger explosion, met members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, and witnessed a changing-of-the-guard ceremony. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, members of The Old Guard stand watch 24 hours a day, a tradition that began in 1948. Following the visit to Arlington National Cemetery, several dignitaries visited the White House for lunch and a tour, while others visited the U.S. Capitol.

“When you come to a place like this, you really get perspective,” Marks said of his time at Arlington National Cemetery. “It’s humbling… This is the reason why we get to do what we do. This is why we get to have NASCAR and a Coca-Cola 600, race car drivers and race teams. Sometimes in the sport you get so focused on the details, so bogged down in that last tenth of a second or your whole life can revolve around some small thing that has to do with a race car. Then you come to Washington, DC – to Arlington – and you look around and go ‘this is how and why we get to be able to pursue our passions to make race cars go fast.’ It’s just a great moment of perspective.”

Each Memorial Day weekend, Charlotte Motor Speedway honors all of the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice during a moving Coca-Cola 600 pre-race show that includes representation from all six branches of the military. In addition to aerial and ground demonstrations, the pre-race salute features hundreds of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Gold Star Families.