Ross Chastain’s aggressive style hasn’t made him a lot of friends in NASCAR’s top series, but he’ll be contending for a Cup Series championship because of that relentless approach.
Chastain pinned his Chevrolet against the outside wall at 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway and was sailing at some 70 mph faster than the rest of the field, careening from 10th place to fifth on the final lap Sunday to give Trackhouse Racing its first chance to race for a title at season’s end.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won his way into one of the four championship-eligible spots for next weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Racway, while Chastain used a move more suited for a video game to also advance in Sunday’s thriller on the short track known as the Paperclip.
Chastain credited playing video games in the past for the dramatic move on the final lap.
“Oh, played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the (Nintendo) GameCube with (younger brother) Chad growing up,” he said. “You can get away with it. I never knew if it would actually work.