Ross Chastain made one of the gutsiest moves in NASCAR history on the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
And while a few drivers, including Carl Edwards and Kyle Larson, had attempted the move in the past, no driver had ever successfully improved their finishing position with the video game wall-riding move in a real world NASCAR race. That is, until Ross Chastain gained five spots in the final turn at Martinsville to knock Denny Hamlin out of the Championship battle.
NASCAR has synced on board video with team in-car radio communications for several teams on the final lap of the race including Chastain’s team, Hamlin’s team, Joey Logano’s team, Chase Elliott’s team and more.
The common theme in the radio transmissions? Disbelief that the move actually worked.
Here is the video with the radio communication, you have to see these genuine reactions to Chastain’s finish on Sunday:
"I can't believe what I just saw." #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Eqw7tyodZF
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 1, 2022
Now the question becomes; do we see someone attempt this move on the final lap this weekend at Phoenix Raceway in an effort to score the NASCAR Cup Series championship? We’ll see.