Martinsville Throwback: Ross Chastain rides the wall into NASCAR history

A year ago the NASCAR Playoffs produced one of the best elimination races ever. Much of that was thanks to Ross Chastain. I still can’t forget the emotions watching the end of that race. Christopher Bell does it again, another walk-off win, but before the headlines could be written about Bell’s victory, Chastain was riding from 10th to 5th in less than half a lap.

No one was sure what had just happened. At home, at the track – it was a mystery. Then as the replay began to hit the screen, over and over we saw the finish. Zipping around the outside wall twice as fast as the other drivers in turns 3 and 4.

Ross Chastain made history that day. And it will never be done (legally) ever again. For how amazing this move from Chastain was, it was equally dangerous. There was a gate on the wall that was thankfully closed, but had it been open, the No. 1 wrecks hard.

While NASCAR now has a rule to keep this from ever happening again, for safety reasons and the sanctity of short-track racing, it was awesome. For one moment, Ross Chastain plugged in the Gamecube controller, put it on the wall and didn’t lift.

He earned a spot in the Championship 4 for his efforts, eliminating rival Denny Hamlin in the process.

Unfortunately this season, no Ross Chastain in the Round of 8. Still, I expect a great race at Martinsville.

No Ross Chastain, no problem for Xfinity 500

While we won’t get to see Ross Chastain do the unthinkable again, we are still going to get a good Xfinity 500 this weekend. There is so much on the line for drivers and their teams. Heading into the race, there are a few favorites, but one sticks out among the rest.

17 points under the cutline entering the weekend, a five-time winner at Martinsville, Denny Hamlin is the favorite for the Xfinity 500. It will be very hard to point his way into the race. He has to outrun, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and possibly William Byron in order to do it.

However, five wins at Martinsville put Hamlin in a different category than other drivers. For this race, it might just be Hamlin’s to lose. We will know when he fires off in qualifying if he has a car capable of winning. Last year, he points raced and paid dearly for it when the No. 1 car went speeding by.

So, no Ross Chastain, but Denny Hamlin is still in a tough spot heading into the elimination race at Martinsville.