The NASCAR community is mourning the loss of Chase Pistone, who passed away at the age of 42.
Chase Pistone raced his entire life, and made it all the way to professional stock car racing thanks to his mastery of short-tracks. The driver of the No. 31 car raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Pistone was a second-generation stock car driver. His grandfather, Tom Pistone, was a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner who raced from 1955 to 1986. As for Chase, his first NASCAR race came in 2005, and the last time he drove was in 2014 at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300. He was always known as a competitive and highly skilled driver, and was very well respected by his racing peers.
When he walked away from racing, he didn’t give up on the sport. Instead, he pivoted to team ownership, and had much success with his Chase Pistone Inc. company. They built both Late Model and Legends stock cars that went on to win a multitude of races. Pistone was also known for being a mentor, teacher and coach to younger drivers in more recent years.
But unfortunately, his story ended while he still had many more years to live, and much more to contribute to the sport of racing. Chase’s brother, Nick, shared the sad news of the former NASCAR driver’s passing on Facebook yesterday, saying:
“Well, my young brother and best friend is gone. I’m broken hearted and don’t know if I’ll ever get over this. I miss you already Chase and I hope you are you are in a better place. I love you and I miss you so much already!”
An official cause of death for Chase Pistone has not yet been revealed, but the Legends Nation Facebook account was told by Nick and Tom Pistone to share the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in their post, which they did along with this message:
“Chase was not only a wheelman in Legends and Late Models, but his Chase Pistone Inc. Legends team was a force to be reckoned with every time they showed up at a track, and they usually walked away with the winner’s trophy.”
It’s also important to note that current NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, took to his social media to share that he had lost a friend and former teammate to suicide. The driver for 23XI Racing shared this post late on March 2:
“Been in the feels. Woke up Sunday morning at 2 a.m. wide awake, stumbled across an old tune that shook me. Only to realize later on at 2 a.m. was when the shooting happened in Austin. A guy I raced with in legends cars took his life today.. Just a lot of damn sadness man.”
As I stated earlier, everyone is now mourning the loss of Chase Pistone and remembering the legacy that he leaves behind with Chase Piston Inc..
RIP Chase Pistone.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
