NASCAR to penalise Chastain-like wall-ride maneuvers

NASCAR will issue penalties for future use of the wall-ride move famously utilised by Ross Chastain last season.

In a last-lap move, Chastain bashed his Trackhouse Racing #1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the wall, moving up five spots to finish fifth in the final NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Round of 8 race at Martinsville Speedway – before he was eventually classified fourth post-race.

Resultantly, the Florida native would go onto seal a spot in the final four for the 2022 title fight, alongside eventual champion Joey Logano, 2020 winner Chase Elliott, and 2017 NASCAR Truck Series victor Christopher Bell.

The move received global attention, drawing both positive and negative feedback.

In the aftermath of the race, Logano called for the move to be outlawed.

Prior to the 2022 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, it was deemed that the wall-ride move would remain within the rules for the championship decider.

Ahead of the 2023 season, NASCAR issued a statement acknowledging that while it is not a new ruling, they deemed the move to be unsafe and announced that penalties will be issued for such maneuvers henceforth.

The statement read as follows: “NASCAR will deem any future use of that maneuver as unsafe per Section 10.5.2.6.A of the NASCAR Rule Book – to ensure that our competitors do not employ strategies that may compromise the safety of themselves, other competitors or fans, NASCAR will issue a time penalty to any vehicle that attempts an unsafe maneuver such as the one performed at Martinsville.

“This is not a new rule – the safety language has existed in the rule book, and following Martinsville, we evaluated it, and chose to officiate consistently for the final race of 2022.

“Since the end of the season, we have worked with the drivers and teams to discuss the best way to officiate/interpret the rule for 2023, and we believe this is the right interpretation for the safety of our competitors moving forward.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will take to the track for the annual pre-season race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, February 5.