Ross Chastain bashed his way into the Championship 4 at Martinsville Speedway by intentionally laying his No. 1 Nascar Chevy Camaro ZL1 against the wall on the last lap – and riding it at breakneck speed right to the finish line.
Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro and the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry were locked in a dead heat for the final transfer spot to the Playoffs championship as the white flag flew. Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro ran in 10th, but with his sights set on the rear bumper of the No. 11 Camry, he opened the throttle and used the wall in Turns 3 and 4 as a bumper to maintain his speed as he rocketed past five competitors in one fell swoop. He passed Hamlin’s No. 11 Camry just before the line, effectively knocking Hamlin out of the Championship 4 in epic fashion.
This angle of Ross Chastain’s move #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/6tZObGPrSU
— Barstool Racing (@rubbinisracing) October 31, 2022
“I made the choice, grabbed fifth gear down the back,” Chastain said of his wild fourth-place finish. “Fully committed. Basically let go of the wheel, hoping I didn’t catch the Turn 4 access gate or something crazy. But I was willing to do it.” He also mentioned that the move was inspired by a Nascar racing video game from his childhood.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Nascar Chevy, also secured a spot in the Championship 4 with a quiet 10th-place finish, and will make an attempt at Phoenix Raceway next weekend to gain his second Cup Series trophy after his victory in 2020. Meanwhile, William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Camaro, was eliminated, unable to bounce back from a 25th-place starting position. Christopher Bell claimed victory at Martinsville, therefore advancing his No. 20 Camry into the final round.
The four drivers now eligible for the championship in the final race of the 2022 Cup Series season are as follows:
- Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford Mustang
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | DeWalt Toyota | 500 | 150 | Toyota TRD Camry |
2 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 500 | 68 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
3 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
4 | 9 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Moose Fraternity Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
5 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | FedEx Freight Direct Toyota | 500 | 203 | Toyota TRD Camry |
6 | 12 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 25 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Liberty University Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
8 | 24 | 45 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 500 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
9 | 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford | 500 | 25 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 500 | 54 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
11 | 10 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
12 | 7 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Expess Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
13 | 19 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Moji Sushi Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
14 | 5 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 15 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | BOOsch Light Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
17 | 13 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Fr8Auctions.com Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
18 | 23 | 43 | Erik Jones | U.S. Air Force Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 26 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 498 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
20 | 27 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 498 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
21 | 14 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | ARK.io Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
22 | 31 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
23 | 21 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Pardon My Cheesesteak Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 497 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
25 | 17 | 48 | Noah Gragson(i) | Ally Chevrolet | 497 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
26 | 30 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Richmond Ford | 497 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
27 | 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 497 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
28 | 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT UBCF Ford | 495 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 18 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Halloween Toyota | 494 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
30 | 35 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Rad Cats Ford | 488 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
31 | 32 | 42 | Ty Dillon | U.S. Space Force Chevrolet | 466 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
32 | 33 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Nations Guard Chevrolet | 460 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
33 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow Chevrolet | 316 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
34 | 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | Motorsport Games Halloween Ford | 225 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
35 | 28 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 3CHI Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
36 | 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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Comments
How fast as Chastain going at finish line?
The most incredible finish, ever. Denny Hamlin was absolutely shaken, white as a ghost in that post race cooldown talk with the NBC reporter.
The next big race speed feature: rollers on the right side.
Absolutely incredible finish!!! Trakhouse is in it to win it!
A Darlington Stripe from Martinsville.
I’m not even a real NASCAR fan, but my wife and I were at the Daytona 500 in 2020…several restarts, and of course the finish was crazy that year too when Ryan Newman crossed the line right in front of us upside down and on fire. Thank goodness everyone was ok. It was a great time, people watch it on TV and don’t get it, but you go to a real race and it is just staggering….to a guy who builds and loves cars/aircraft, it still makes the hair on my neck stand up just thinking about how they blew by from the low seats, standing there and the smell of rubber and exhaust and feeling hot air whipping past….how they sounded on the a back stretch…it is a show everyone must attend once in their lives at least. Amazing.