The 2022 season could possibly have been the most controversial and eventful season in the recent past. A number of wrecks and fistfights took place. But they weren’t the highlights. The biggest and most shocking highlight was Ross Chastain’s move in Martinsville.
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Ross Chastain, lovingly called ‘The Melon Man’, pulled off a ‘Hail Melon’ in Martinsville. In the final lap, he was trailing for the final position in the Championship 4 race in Phoenix. He believed he had nothing to lose; he pressed the gas pedal as hard as he could and hugged the wall through to the finish line.
The debate around its legality continues. Corey LaJoie and Steve O’Donnell discussed the move on the Stacking Pennies show.
LaJoie said to O’Donnell, “So there was several heated opinions of Ross’ move in Martinsville. And that son of a b*tch went to a place nobody’s ever been to before and it paid off for him. Now I could see because Martinsville of all places is certainly the most advantageous. There might be 3 or 4 you could justify doing it in the right scenario, which people are gonna say they’re gonna do but they probably wouldn’t.”
Corey then asked, “What is the process in which NASCAR as a league addresses the drivers or car owners or just internally makes a rule for or against that happening again?”
But then Corey interrupted and narrated an incident of a meeting after Martinsville, “I’m literally right in the middle, middle row, middle seat. OD and the brass are up in the front. And I was stuck in the crosshairs of words back and forth. And I look over my shoulder and Ross Chastain is in the furthest seat in the back row opposite of the brass with a plate of spaghetti. (acts out how Chastain was carelessly eating)
The Melon Man was cool as a cucumber (or a watermelon, since it’s him) when he pulled off that audacious move – and after hearing this, it seems like that’s just how he is all the time.
Can Ross Chastain repeat the Hail Melon again?
The move attracted a lot of attention, and that was quite obvious. However, most of it was negative, at least from inside the NASCAR world. From drivers to top executives, there was a universal disdain for the move primarily for one reason – safety.
With the fear that allowing such moves to go unnoticed would open a Pandora’s Box and adversely affect NASCAR’s attempts to make the sport safer, discussions have been held between the management.
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O’Donnell explained the progress of those discussions. “I think you know for us certainly the biggest thing we gotta look at going forward is – I think even if you ask Ross, what happened when he made that move, he’d also tell you he didn’t feel too giddy. And so are we gonna force guys in that position, do we wanna do that? Are there some things we can do at Martinsville that can stop that from happening?”
“So, you know we’ll look at that. That’ll be us with a lot of the race teams, talking about what’s the reality of that happening, at what tracks… I think you’ll see us reacting in some way to do something particular about Martinsville.”
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Steve O’Donnell puts it perfectly allowing the move would only force other drivers to go for similar moves when in tough positions. This is a stance that NASCAR needs to take for the longevity and safety of the sport. A decision is most likely going to be presented, after due consultations, before the 2023 season starts.