“What Do You Have to Lose”- Ross Chastain Relives His Banned Hail Melon Gimmick on Return to Martinsville

At Martinsville last year, Ross Chastain pulled off the impossible. In what has become known as the “Hail Melon” move in popculture, the Trackhouse Racing driver’s Camaro rode the wall to go past Denny Hamlin and clinch a Championship 4 spot. As we head to the track again for the 2023 version of the race, the driver revealed the exact thoughts that went through his mind during the fiery sequence.

With the memory still afresh among the racing community, Chastain’s revelations bring forth a whole new perspective to the strategy that has now been banned by NASCAR.

“Why not?”: The question that the nothing-to-lose Ross Chastain asked himself

During the final lap at the intermediate track, Chastain had to gain two spots to make it to the final race at Phoenix. Seeing the white flag, he drove right into the wall by turns 3 and 4 at above-average speed and passed five cars in the process. The lap that he put together by doing so was also the fastest in Martinsville at 18.845 seconds. The move that he made by sticking his car to the outside wall and slinging along its perimeter, is now against the rules. Nevertheless, it had at the time enabled him to finish at P4 and eliminate Joe Gibbs’ No.11 driver.

Reminiscing on the moment that he decided to take this shot, he said to the Motor Racing Network, “Off turn 4, I touched the throttle. Was in third gear and can just see the white flag. At the same time, my spotter says something along the lines of ‘White flag. Need two spots.’ Or something. And it wasn’t ever a question. I did not go through like pros and cons. I just had no cons. I had no negatives. Every time I would ask ‘Why, why, why?’ What do you have to lose? Why not?“

When Chastain pulled off this extraordinary scene, Christopher Bell had crossed the finish line at P1. While many accomplishments along those lines might be forgotten over the course of time, Chastain’s “Hail Melon” will remain etched in our minds for a much longer time to come. Expressing his amazement over the skill of his fellow driver, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace recently said, “It was a blur. It was a massive blur. I was running eighth or ninth. Something just whizzed right by me, and I was like, ‘What is that?’ I was in the middle of 3 and 4, and I finally have seen that it’s Ross, and I was like, ‘Wow.’

Wallace’s words pretty much summed up the reactions of everyone who witnessed those moments from the stands or on television. The No.1 driver went on to share the in-car happenings at the time.

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Continuing the conversation, the Trackhouse star was asked, “So, you are going through this experience. When through that experience did you realize that it was working?” Chastain responded by getting into a detailed narrative of the voices that went through his head. He said, “I was in the wall for a little bit and I was still driving the car. I had my hands on the wheel. I thought, “Let go. You are not doing anything.” Vision is gone. It’s just blurred.”

Revealing how he’d completely let go of his steering, he said that he’d recognized turn 4 when the setting sun’s light hit him. He continued, “I thought, ‘All right, Turn 4 we are almost there. Got to be over soon.’ And I felt a bit of extra compression by the continuous curve to the straight-away and it felt even harder vibration and threw me into the seat. Squished me more. I get my hands on the wheel as it goes straight and the first thing, I am waiting on my vision like, I am perfectly aware I can’t see from the vibration. And I look left, something’s there and I look over and it is really loud and it’s an exhaust, and it’s #11.”

Going to Martinsville again, Chastain does not have a strong cause like he did last year. He is already out of the playoffs. However, there are other drivers who are in the spot that he was in. While attempting the exact same move will result in a penalty, we can definitely hope to see a similar “Why not?” attitude in many drivers on the upcoming Sunday. We won’t have to wait long to see if another driver joins Chastain’s elite list of jaw-droppers.

Read More: “This One’s Special” – Ross Chastain Takes the “Hail Melon” Status to the Next Level With New $18.41-Billion Sponsor