MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Christopher Bell staged another “Walk-Off Win” to advance in the NASCAR Playoffs. But fans will will forever remember Ross Chastain’s unbelievable “video game-like” finish that vaulted him from 10th to fifth in the final two turns.
Chastain floored his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet into turn three, never lifting and let the radius of the outside wall steer his car to finish ahead of Denny Hamlin, the man he had to beat to make it into NASCAR’s Championship Four.
“Oh, played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube with Chad growing up. You can get away with it. I never knew if it would actually work,” Chastain said.
“I mean, I did that when I was eight years old. I grabbed fifth gear, asked off of two on the last lap if we needed it, and we did. I couldn’t tell who was leading. I made the choice, grabbed fifth gear down the back. Full committed. Basically let go of the wheel, hoping I didn’t catch the turn four access gate or something crazy. But I was willing to do it.”
Chastain’s final lap was faster than any lap ever at Martinsville Speedway. It was clocked at 18.845 seconds for 100.483 miles per hour. The track record is 100.281 miles per hour set by Joey Logano in 2014.
On Saturday, Kyle Larson won the pole with a lap at 19.709 for a speed of 96.078 mph.
“Just glad we could do whatever we could do,” Chastain said. “A great pit stop on the last stop to put us in position to even be close enough by our guys, our pit crew, our guys are incredible. All we asked for is a chance.”
Hamlin was dumbfounded that out of seemingly nowhere, Chastain was able to steel five positions that knocked him out the championship.
“It was a great move,” Hamlin said. “It was brilliant. When you have no other chose, you have to do that.
“It was well executed.”
Oh, by the way, Bell won the race, scoring his second-straight walk-off win in a NASCAR cutoff race to advance to the next round.
He also scored a “win and get in” victory in the October 9 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9.
Bell entered Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, 52 points back in the Round of Eight. He had no chance to get in based on points, so Bell had to win the race.
That’s exactly what he did, becoming NASCAR’s “Mr. October” in terms of walk-off wins.
“Mom and dad, we did it, wow. I can’t believe it, man,” Bell said. “To come here in Martinsville, this place has always been so tough on me. Just pre-race looking up, seeing all the fans, this place is packed.
“I don’t even know what to say. Just thank you so much to DeWalt, Rheem, Toyota, everyone on this Joe Gibbs Racing 20 team. They believed in me since day one.
“We went to Xfinity and did pretty well, struggled on the Cup side for the first little bit. They stayed with me. Very appreciative to be here. I don’t even know what to say.”
Bell’s No. 20 Toyota defeated Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet by 0.869 seconds. Ryan Blaney’s Team Penske Ford was third, but he was eliminated. Brad Keselowski’s Ford was fourth followed by Chastain’s incredible rim-ride, foot-to-the floor finish using the outside wall to steer him past practically everyone ahead of him.
The four drivers that will fight it out for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway include Joey Logano and Bell as race winners in the “Round of Eight. Chase Elliott and Chastain advance through points.
And the driver who was left stunned was Hamlin, who started 11th and ran away from the field during the first two third of the races. He won both stage one and stage two in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“You have to execute all day and we didn’t control the race when we had control of it,” Hamlin said. “Each caution, we kept losing spots. We couldn’t hang onto it on pit road.
“We were trying to battle and try to get in, but that’s racing and it’s what racing is here at Martinsville. You can’t say enough for my team to give us a shot. We’re going to end up fifth in points, it is what it is.”