Insiders react to Ross Chastain cleaning out Denny Hamlin, suggest NASCAR would have penalized move

The last lap of the NASCAR Playoff race at the Roval resulted in Ross Chastain cleaning out Denny Hamlin in the final turn. It was a desperate move that was created by the format of this championship.

When Ross Chastain did the Hail Melon at Martinsville in 2022, it was awesome. It was a video game move that resulted in only his car being damaged, even if the risks to others were high as he zoomed around the wall.

As cool as the Hail Melon felt, the move at the Roval was…cringey. And what was it for? Not even a top-15 position on the track.

Ross Chastain stepped over the line with Roval move

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic talked about the finish after the race. The two co-hosts of The Teardown did not see eye-to-eye on the move. But they both agreed on one thing – had it worked in Ross Chastain’s favor, a penalty would have been needed.

“I look at the finish and I’m like, ugh. You’re saying you love that,” Gluck said to his co-host. “This is everything great about the playoffs. To me, the last lap, it made me feel, it gave me sort of Austin Dillon Richmond vibes. You’re applauding, a driver is told, you’re out of the playoffs, do what you need to do, and he goes into the last corner and completely cleans out another competitor who had nothing to do with anything, to give himself a spot in the next round. Logano on the backstretch was in. He was tied because he had made the pass, and Chastain had gotten passed by Hamlin. So, they were tied.

“Chastain was told, you need one more spot, you’ve gotta pass Hamlin. This is everything. So, he drives in there, and he cleans Hamlin out, intentionally, on purpose, to try to give himself the last spot. Which, by the way, would NASCAR have even let that stand? I don’t think so. But I’m not like, oh that’s awesome, I love that, that’s so cool. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve made up my mind on the playoffs. I’m sure you’ll say that, that’s what the counterargument will be. That wasn’t like a classic, thrilling, racing moment for me. That was, oh geez, oh my gosh. That is what you want to see? That’s how you want to decide who moves on by cleaning out a driver that wasn’t even involved?”

Should NASCAR have penalized Chastain for wreck?

On the other side, Bianchi chose to play somewhat of a Devil’s Advocate. He praised the playoffs and the drama they created. But even he had to admit Ross Chastain went a little too far.

“He didn’t move on! Because of what he did, he didn’t move on,” Bianchi responded. “But because Logano raced his butt off and he had a gutsy call by his crew chief, he was rewarded by that. And Chastain, if he would have been able to defend better, would have been in a better position. It’s a fascinating dynamic, but to watch a driver in the 22 go all-out over the last 11 laps, like, that’s good. That was fantastic. And to watch Chastain hold on for dear life – I’m not going to sit here and defend Chastain cleaning out Hamlin at the end. There is no excuse for that, and that should be policed.”

The two NASCAR writers then considered the consequences of that move. What if Ross Chastain made it work and passed Denny Hamlin? What if that was the move that eliminated Joey Logano?

“I think they would have. I really do think they would have, and I think they would have looked at last year at Austin Dillon at Richmond as the case study for how do we handle this,” Bianchi said. “We can’t just have somebody cleaning somebody out, right, wrong, or different, I think they would have. And I don’t even think it would have been hesitant. I don’t think they would have waited on it. I think it would have been a pretty clear-cut call.”

So, Joey Logano is moving on to the Round of 8 again. Ross Chastain is out. How much longer will the NASCAR Playoffs last in this form?