There are some things you can do in a video game that you wouldn’t do out on track in your wildest dreams. But our wildest dreams are just highlights for Ross Chastain. 

In 2022, he pulled a move so brilliant that he moved up six positions on the final lap in Martinsville to make it to the Championship Four while shattering Denny Hamlin’s dream. 

Denny Hamlin needed to finish fourth to make the four, and Ross Chastain, all the way down at 10th, needed to finish 2 positions higher. Towards the end of the back stretch, Chastain got his #1 Trackhouse Chevrolet into the wall and slammed his foot on the throttle and didn’t take it off. 

Hamlin was on the inside, and Elliott was beside him when Chastain came steaming in and pushed Elliott before crossing the line ahead of the #11 JGR driver. Dale Jr on comms that day exclaimed, “It looks like a video game. That doesn’t look real, he’s going that fast.”

And F1 driver Fernando Alonso tweeted along similar lines.

Chastain went on to finish the race in 4th before finishing 3rd in the Championship race, finishing 2nd behind Joey Logano in the Championship. But when you talk about Chastain, most don’t go that far into the 2022 season; they reach what is now called “Hail Melon” and leave it there.

Why Hail Melon? Because that’s what Denny Hamlin’s then crew chief, Chris Gabehart, called it over the radio, drawing reference from Hail Mary and Ross Chastain’s background of being a seventh-generation watermelon farmer. 

On the radio before he made the now-banned move, he said, “I’m just gonna put my foot to the floor, and I’m not lifting till I see God or the checkered Flag.” Chastain’s last lap was faster than the pole lap by a whole 2 seconds. 

Why NASCAR banned the Hail Melon

Chastain had recalled that he had seen Sheldon Creed try it in the Xfinity Car and Kyle Larson try it a year before, and that it was a once-in-a-lifetime move. 

The following year, NASCAR banned the move, citing a rule which prohitibts actions that endanger drivers, officials, or spectators. It was decided that any driver attempting it would be fined with either a time or a lap penalty.

Chastain admitted that it was a move that wrecked the car, and it was kept in the team’s shop lobby along with a piece of the wall from Martinsville. 

 But the damage to the car is exactly why NASCAR banned the move. The risk of serious damage to the car or debris flying into the stands, possibly injuring spectators, was a big risk. 

Chastain said that it was good that NASCAR banned it; otherwise, the move would turn into some kind of requirement where if the leader tried to do it, everyone would follow suit.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason