As the final lap of 500 laps began on Sunday, Ross Chastain was in dire straits, trailing Denny Hamlin by two points in the standings for the final spot in the Championship 4 and running 10th in the race.
As Chastain entered Turn 3, he hit the gas pedal on his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and headed right to the wall.
As leader Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Hamlin and others raced off Turn 4 toward the checkered flag, Chastain came flying around the outside against the wall at incredible speed. He went from 10th to fifth in the final two turns, edging Hamlin by 0.73 seconds.
The move was as daring as it was surprisingly successful.
Chastain’s final lap of the race registered at 18.8 seconds, faster than the lap time of Kyle Larson who won the pole for the race.
Asked if when and if he ever considered such a move prior to Sunday, Chastain said, “I played a lot of ‘NASCAR 2005’ on the game cube with (brother) Chad growing up. You can get away with it. I never knew if it would actually work.
“I mean, I did that when I was eight years old. I grabbed fifth gear, asked off of (Turn) 2 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. Fully committed.
“Basically, I let go of the wheel, hoping I didn’t catch the Turn 4 access gate or something crazy. But I was willing to do it.”
The wild finish capped a remarkable semifinal round of the playoffs for Chastain, who had finished second at both Las Vegas and Homestead the last two weekends.
Even with the strong finishes, Chastain had difficulty keeping pace in Sunday’s race with several of his fellow playoff drivers.
Following the final caution of the race, Chastain lined up 11th in the running order, one spot ahead of Hamlin, on the restart with 24 laps to go.
Hamlin, however, was able to get around Chastain quickly and able to move up to fifth entering the final lap while Chastain was struggling in 10th.
But thanks to his desperation move, Chastain edged Hamlin for fifth and gave upstart Trackhouse Racing its first opportunity to win a driver’s championship.
“For this Trackhouse group, we’ve done everything. We did so much right this year, to lose Rob (Rose, president of Worldwide Express) this year, we got a rose riding with us, right, an angel overhead. I thought about that for a long time.
“I just cannot believe that we have a chance to go fight for a championship. All we ask for is a chance. We kept our world small this year so far. We’ll do the same thing going to Phoenix.”
