Image source: Racing News
NASCAR: There are many ways to be successful in athletic competition, but some of them are outright unethical while others are dangerous.
Usually, rules are created during the course of a sport’s existence.
NASCAR recently had a professional driver attempt a stunt, which prompted the organization to add a new rule to the guidelines.
The news
In Martinsville last year, professional racer Ross Chastain engaged in a risky maneuver that forced officials to take appropriate action.
NASCAR said on Tuesday that the wall-riding tactic he utilized to qualify for the championship race will no longer be permitted in competition.
In order to enable enough cars to pass on the final lap of the race, Chastain kept her foot firmly on the gas pedal and drove to the wall.
He gained entry for the season finale and joined the other three drivers in the championship race as a result of doing this.
The newest NASCAR regulation states:
“Any violation deemed to compromise the safety of an event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of competitors, officials, spectators, or others are treated with the highest degree of seriousness.”
“Safety violations will be handed on a case-by-case basis.”
What happened
Chastain made a good call during the 2022 qualifying round.
He was aware that Denny Hamlin had more points than he had for the last playoff spot.
The gap with the other cars made conventional passes difficult.
Chastain upshifted as a result, kept his foot on the gas, and drove his car into a wall.
Because of the smart decision, his lap was about two seconds faster than the winner, Christopher Bell.
As a result, Ross Chastain advanced from tenth to fifth, passing Hemlin on the last lap to earn points for his championship quest.
After the race, Chastain remembered doing the similar move on a NASCAR video game when he was younger.
He actively put it to the test to see whether it would work.
Read also: Kobe Bryant MVP season jersey to go up for auction
Reception
The “Hail Melon” move from the game was popular among the other racers.
Joey Logano, a rival racer, claimed that everyone did it when they were young.
“We all did it in the video game. That’s how you made speed in the video game, that’s what you did,” he said.
“Something we all thought about at one point – at least, I thought about it a lot – but never really had the need to do it. Also kind of thought how many races I could have won here by doing that.”
“As spectacular as it was, as much as it worked, the problem is now the box is open right? That’s not good,” Logano continued.
“It was awesome, it was cool. It happened for the first time. There’s no rule against it. There needs to be a rule against this one because I don’t know if you want the whole field riding the wall coming to the checkered flag.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson called the incident embarrassing and said, “It’s just a bad look.”
“I’m embarrassed that I did it at Darlington. Maybe if I didn’t do it last year, people wouldn’t think to do that, so I’m embarrassed myself and glad that I didn’t win that way.”
Aftermath
Ross Chastain’s tactic was so successful that NASCAR amended the regulation as a result.
Chastain set the fastest Cup Series lap record at Martinsville when he mounted the wall.
It made NASCAR wonder how they might prevent other racers from making the technique a common practice.
The organization determined that because of how well it was carried out, it should be illegal.
If other drivers execute the same maneuver, they will be penalized with additional time.
According to Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, it wasn’t a brand-new rule.
“I think we all remember the last-lap move at Martinsville in the fall,” he said.
“Brought a great deal of excitement, a great deal of exposure to our sport. But it also came with some scrutiny.”
