Ross Chastain pulled off one of the most incredible moves in NASCAR history to make the Championship 4 … but is it a move that should be allowed going forward?
When the field took the white flag, Chastain trailed Denny Hamlin by two points for the final Championship 4 spot. Hamlin was fifth on the racetrack and Chastain was 10th.
But going into turn 3, Chastain put his No. 1 Chevrolet against the outside wall and stayed in the throttle, riding the wall all the way around the corner and to the finish line. In the process, Chastain passed five cars on the outside, nosing ahead of Hamlin for fifth. Brad Keselowski was disqualified after post-race inspection, so they have since been credited with fourth and fifth.
The move put Chastain in and Hamlin out of the championship fight.
“I thought, ‘Why not?’” Chastain said. “That’s a motto that some buddies and I have back home. We live by ‘why not?’ To apply that to the Cup Series in this scenario, there are rules. There are a lot of rules out here.
“I didn’t know how it would all work out. I didn’t know if the physics would work to make it around the corner, but it did. I’m sure glad it did.”
Driving into the final corner without lifting has come to be known as “the video game move” by many in the NASCAR community. Chastain echoed that by noting he first used the move in “NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube” with his brother Chad Chastain.
“I mean, I did that when I was eight years old,” Chastain said. “I grabbed fifth gear, asked off of [turn] 2 on the last lap if we needed it, and we did. I couldn’t tell who was leading. I made the choice, grabbed fifth gear down the back. Full committed. Basically let go of the wheel, hoping I didn’t catch the turn four access gate or something crazy. But I was willing to do it.”
The move worked out for Chastain, and it may end up being the move that catapults him to a championship. But Chastain’s move may open Pandora’s Box going forward. And it’s already brought about split views amongst many in the garage.
“As spectacular as it was, as much as it worked, the problem is now the box is open, right?” Joey Logano said. “Now every Xfinity race, every Truck race, every Cup race, no matter the track, this wall riding is going to be a play. That’s not good. … There needs to be a rule against this one because I don’t know if you want the whole field riding the wall coming to the checkered flag.
“I don’t know…
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