Ross Chastain’s “Rocky Relationship” With Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Driver Reached Its Peak With Ugly Retaliation in 2019 Race

The Xfinity 500 at Martinsville was a crucial race in the run-up to next week’s Championship 4 race at Phoenix. With the grid not yet fully set, one driver found out the shortest way to Phoenix – along the barriers. Ross Chastain and his wall hugging antics earned him the final spot on the grid for November 7. But his boldness once brought him to arms with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s team.

His move reminds of when he had in 2019 battled with Dale Earnhardt Jr-owned JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen. Both drivers had been tugging and pushing each other around for the majority of the race. Chastain’s push however turned out to be too strong for Allgaier who spun out as a result. 

Allgaier soon caught back up with Chastain later on in the race – and paid him back in kind. Chastain’s wreck could not be salvaged and he ended up finishing 34th that night. After the race, Allgaier said, “We’ve had a rocky relationship over our racing career. Unfortunately, I’ve been on the receiving side a number of times of him running into me.”

“He flat wrecked me in the bus stop back there. At some point you get to a point where you’re tired of getting run into, and so I ran back into him. He knew what he was doing when he got into the bus stop and wrecked me on purpose. Even when I caught him back, he slowed way, way down and he knew that I was mad at him. You can’t race like that and not have something come of it,” added a visibly angry Allgaier.

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Chastain has been greatly applauded for the move in Martinsville but at the end of the day, public perception is sculpted by results. Had that not worked out for him, he’d have received a lot of backlash for it.

Banning the Ross Chastain move – is that the right way to go?

Data from Chastain’s car showed he managed to attain a top speed of 50mph higher than on regular laps. His 18.845-second lap was faster than the pole-winning lap and also set a new record, beating the previous 18.898-second set by Joey Logano in 2014.

But aside from the appreciation, he has received from many quarters, there are some who believe the move warrants a punishment. Logano was among the first to call out the move, “Now the box is open, right? This wall riding is going to be a play. That’s not good. I mean, it was awesome, it was cool. It happened for the first time, there’s no rule against it.”

Motorsport’s Charles Bradley and team tried to evaluate the possible issues such moves could bring, say in case someone tried it in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Speedway. The biggest concern their testing brought up was safety. It is unlikely SAFER barriers are meant to take this ‘repeated abuse’ IF it becomes a move drivers resort to when losing.

Chastain himself admitted he hadn’t thought about the track gate when he did it in Martinsville. “Halfway through the corner I saw [the gate], and I had not thought about that. I did see it when I was in the middle of the corner, but it was too late. Testament to the wall.”

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Chastain’s move has built him a cult following for the obvious reasons – it was thrilling and adventurous. But NASCAR has other aspects to consider as it deliberates for the future of NASCAR.