In the final race before NASCAR’s championship weekend, Christopher Bell in a must-win situation stormed to the front of the field at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, took the checkered flag and locked himself into the Championship 4.
But the late-race jaw-dropper came from Ross Chastain, another playoff driver who pulled off a stunning last-lap move to edge Denny Hamlin to the finish line and advance to the Championship 4 as well.
Late in the Martinsville race, Bell had the lead with only a couple laps left. As the point standings updated throughout the race, Chastain and Hamlin were battling for the final championship transfer spot.
And just when it looked like Hamlin would hold onto his slight advantage, Chastain shot around the 0.526-mile track, barely beat Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the finish line and stole the last remaining Championship 4 spot.
It was a wild video game kind of move. Just legendary stuff.
UNBELIEVABLE!@RossChastain floors it along the wall to go from 10th to 5th and advance to the CHAMPIONSHIP! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/9qX3eq7T6h
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 30, 2022
Watching this on repeat. Speechless 😳
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) October 30, 2022
Instead of muddling through traffic in the inside lanes, Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet took the empty outside lane and flew around the track on the last lap, scraping the wall for much of it.
“No one’s ever gone through [Turns] 3 and 4 that fast ever!” NBC Sports’ Rick Allen said on the broadcast, which also noted Chastain went from 10th place to fifth on the last lap.
Chastain’s in-car view of his last-lap move is even crazier:
THE MOVE THAT SENDS ROSS CHASTAIN TO THE #CHAMPIONSHIP4! pic.twitter.com/67Ku712XZf
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 30, 2022
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN YOUR LIFE?!?!
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) October 30, 2022
How much of an advantage was Ross Chastain's move along the wall?
His final lap was 18.845 seconds. The next fastest time on the last lap was 20.508 seconds by Kyle Larson.
Larson won the pole Saturday with a lap of 19.709 seconds. https://t.co/EYcTh7MlUl
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) October 30, 2022
In fact, Chastain’s last lap was slightly less than two seconds faster than Bell’s last lap and faster than Kyle Larson’s pole-winning speeds ahead of Sunday’s race.
Obviously destroying the right side of your race car isn’t ideal, but in a now-or-never situation, Chastain floored it around the short track and it paid off.
Justin Marks says he didn’t know what Ross Chastain did was possible and has no idea when his driver thought to it. But Marks loves having Chastain in his race cars pic.twitter.com/nceRUjt5rL
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) October 30, 2022
“Great move, brilliant,” Hamlin later told NBC Sports. “Certainly a great move. When you have no other choice, it certainly is easy to do that. But well executed.”
In addition to Bell and Chastain, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano round out the final four — though Logano was previously guaranteed a spot thanks to a win in the Round of 8.
The racing world COULD NOT BELIEVE Chastain managed to pull off that all-time great move.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Ross Chastain SENDS IT to advance to the Championship 4.
Woooooow. pic.twitter.com/CUEDxYyQ9P
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 30, 2022
That was one of the craftiest, savviest moves auto racing has ever seen by Ross Chastain.
I mean. Just holy smokes.— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) October 30, 2022
Ross Chastain getting the kind of applause you get when you leap 60 school buses on a Vespa
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) October 30, 2022
HOLY CRAP!! CHASTAIN JUST DID AN ALL-TIME MOVE!!
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 30, 2022
Chastain's last lap was 18.845 seconds. A second faster than Kyle Larson's pole. A tenth of a second faster than the TRACK RECORD set in 2014 pic.twitter.com/UUe945oble
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) October 30, 2022
My God that was the sickest move I have ever seen. That is not an overstatement. Ross Chastain just did that.
— Mike Davis (@MikeDavis88) October 30, 2022
Ross Chastain just made one of the most ridiculous moves I’ve ever seen in a race. Wait until you see the highlight. Video game stuff. Unbelievable.
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) October 30, 2022
Ross Chastain literally went and said: pic.twitter.com/gxDEH8LOJc
— DennyDeliversYT (@DennyDelivers) October 30, 2022
ross chastain going into the final turn on the last lap pic.twitter.com/ude1mZ16ZD
— NASCAR Memes (@NASCAR_Memes_) October 30, 2022
I also think Ross Chastain might have just broken NASCAR with that move, because that opens up a whole lot of grey area that we've never been crazy enough to try before.
— David Land™❌ (@DLand91) October 30, 2022
Ross Chastain just pulled the most legendary move in NASCAR history. It’s not debatable. It’s just not. It’s not. He’s smarter than you. He’s a genius. And a legend. LEGEND
I’m still out of breath. I can’t believe what just happened. C Bell is also good. Unreal#NASCARPlayoffs
— dale tanhardt (retired nascar god) (@daletanhardt) October 30, 2022
ROSS CHASTAIN JUST DID THE IRACING WALL RIDE TO ADVANCE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4#NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs #Xfinity500 pic.twitter.com/iyCAeVALhD
— Steve Luvender (@steveluvender) October 30, 2022
ROSS CHASTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/4Xujs5CZfO
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) October 30, 2022
Like what the hell just happened.
Insane, ballsy move from Ross Chastain
I am stunned. #NASCAR
— Nick DeGroot (@ndegroot89) October 30, 2022
HOW DID ROSS CHASTAIN DO THAT?!
— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) October 30, 2022
Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin coming off of Turn 4.#NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/VYLbZuGJJ4
— Darian Gilliam (@BlackFlagMatter) October 30, 2022
Chastain on the last lap: pic.twitter.com/hr4KfPEZJO
— Nathan (@KensethFan17_20) October 30, 2022
Holy crap, Ross Chastain just went full blast into the wall and used it to advance to finals over Hamlin
Never seen that move before! Unbelievable pic.twitter.com/YAKOGLTRDs
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) October 30, 2022
Brad Keselowski looking in his mirror seeing Ross Chastain in turn 3&4 like: pic.twitter.com/xZQXgKTy68
— Jacob Bell (@TheJacobBell77) October 30, 2022
definitely gonna be a ross chastain rule added after that🤣
— Carson Hocevar (@CarsonHocevar) October 30, 2022
