Ross Chastain’s aggressive style hasn’t won him many friends in NASCAR’s top series.
Key points:
- Ross Chastain said the trick was inspired by a trick he used while playing a NASCAR video game as a kid.
- Chevrolet driver moved from 10th to 5th after ‘riding the wall’
- He now joins Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott in the winner-takes-all finale.
But now he will fight for a championship title because of this approach.
Chastain pinned his Chevrolet against the outside wall of the 2,700-foot Martinsville Speedway and drove about 70 mph faster than the rest of the field, moving from 10th to fifth on the final lap to give Trackhouse Racing its first championship appearance.
Christopher Bell powered his way into the NASCAR championship race while Chastain used a move more suited to a video game to also advance in Sunday’s thrilling regular-season finale.
Chastain attributed the spectacular move in the final lap to the fact that he had been playing video games.
“Oh, I played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube with (my younger brother) Chad growing up,” he said.
“You can do it. I never knew if it would really work.”
“I mean, I did it when I was eight years old. I got into fifth gear, asked to go to second on the last lap if we needed it, and we did it. I couldn’t tell who was in the lead.
“I made my choice, I put fifth gear in the back. I went all out. I let go of the steering wheel hoping I wouldn’t hit the barrier at Turn 4 or something crazy. But I was ready to do it.”
Bell needed to win to advance to the final four next week at Phoenix Raceway and he managed to give Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota a spot in the final.
Bell also won on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course in the final race of the second round of the playoffs, advancing twice with victories.
But this victory was different.
“I say it all the time, but the driver is just a small piece of the puzzle for these races,” Bell said.
“The reason this car won today is because it was the best car on the track. Adam Stevens, Tyler Williams, that whole group of 20, they never give up. When our backs are against the wall, when it looks like it’s over, they come out and give me the fastest car here.
“I don’t know, man. Words can’t describe this feeling.”
The final four drivers in the Cup Series finale are Bell, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Chastain, who eliminated rival Denny Hamlin from the championship with his spectacular last-lap drive.
Hamlin, though disappointed, was impressed.
“Great decision. Brilliant. Definitely a great decision,” he said of Chastain’s tactic.
“When you have no other choice, it’s certainly easy to do. But it’s well executed.”
Bell passed Chase Briscoe, who also needed to win to advance to the championship, with five laps to go to secure an automatic spot in the championship race.
It was Bell who was caught up in Bubba Wallace’s fightback against Kyle Larson in Las Vegas and Bell being caught up in that crash dropped him to last place of the eight drivers.
He knew from then on that Bell would need a win to compete for his first Cup title, and he did it on NASCAR’s oldest track.
AP
