Of all the racetracks that the NASCAR Cup Series races on, one in particular holds arguably the greatest memory for driver Ross Chastain.
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It was October 30, 2022, at Martinsville Raceway, one of the oldest still-active tracks in NASCAR Cup history. Ross Chastain was fighting for a spot in the following week’s season-ending Championship 4 race in Phoenix. With one final lap to go at Martinsville and Chastain in 10th place, his hopes weren’t looking that great.
Denny Hamlin was running in fifth place, and it was looking as if he would get the final spot for the following week’s championship-deciding race. But Chastain had an idea, one that was so radical that it was never seen before – and likely will never be seen again (due to NASCAR mandate).
A longtime video game player, Chastain decided to bring a video game-like move to life: he jammed his car against the outside retaining wall heading into turn three and stuck the car around Martinsville’s famed paperclip layout, all the way around turn 4 and across the start-finish line.
Literally 50 feet from the checkered flag, Chastain successfully passed Hamlin to finish fifth, shocking not only the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who was already thinking about his championship hopes at Phoenix, as well as the crowd in attendance and also the millions of fans who watched the incredible move.
Instead, it was Chastain who overtook Hamlin for the fourth and final Championship 4-qualifying spot. It would also be Chastain’s first and last time he’s qualified for the Championship 4 to date.
Even NASCAR Hall of Famer and TV analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. marveled at Chastain’s “video game move.”
Chastain Recalls The Spectacular Move
The Florida watermelon farmer returns to Martinsville again this weekend for the fifth time since that memorable day. And while this Sunday’s race is first and foremost on Chastain’s mind, he can’t help but be asked over and over about his memories of that fateful October afternoon.
“I remember it hurt a lot,” Chastain said Friday to WXLV-TV. “It was a desperate attempt to pass two cars. I ran the last lap, and I was desperate; I was willing to do anything. And for some reason, my mind went to run the wall in (turns) 3 and 4, and I couldn’t think of a reason why not.”
“So I held it wide open and shifted up to fifth — a gear we don’t use, we use third gear in the corners and fourth gear on the straightaways here at Martinsville. I had an extra gear, which helped, and the wall only slowed me down a couple miles per hour.”
“I went about twice as fast as I would have. I was up right around 140 mph at the minimum, which is normally our straightaway speed. In the corner here, you go about 75 mph. So it was fast, it felt fast, it felt like I was going to flip over, but luckily the car kept three tires on the ground all the way through the corner. The left front was off the ground, and it made it.”
“We passed five cars and we only needed (to pass) two, but that sent us to the championship race in Phoenix to fight for a championship. It was my first year with Trackhouse (Racing), that was a big moment for us.”
The Move Was Short-Lived In NASCAR
Unfortunately for Chastain and any other driver who may have been tempted to do a similar action in the future, NASCAR eventually banned the move. Still, it was Chastain’s best finish to date in his 12 career Cup starts at Martinsville.
But that could change in his 13th start at the half-mile oval this Sunday. He wants to win a legendary Martinsville Grandfather’s Clock, one of the most iconic and prestigious trophies given not just in NASCAR, but in any professional sport.
“That’s a bucket list life achievement,” Chastain said. “If we’re fortunate enough to win one, I want to win 10 more. Getting that first one would be big in more ways than I can describe.”
And maybe even bigger than what he did back in 2022.
