“You Are a Gift to NASCAR” – Fans Hail Justin Marks as the Best Owner in the Sport After His Decision on the “Hail Melon” Car

Ross Chastain‘s “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville is still very fresh in the minds of motorsport fans. The 30-year-old attempted this in his bid to qualify for the NASCAR final Championship 4 spot. Delighted by it, even the Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks ended up hugging him after the race. While it helped Chastain wonderfully to go past rival Denny Hamlin and qualify for the playoff, it brought mixed reactions around the globe.

Many criticized the move and recently, NASCAR banned the maneuver based on safety considerations. The decision came, citing danger to the safety of competitors, officials, spectators, and other entities involved. Despite the ban, motorsport fans will remember strongly both Ross Chastain and his “wall car”. Interestingly, Justin Marks came to an unbelievable decision to honor Chastain’s move.

Justin Marks is a fan-favorite owner

Marks is quite an active personality on Twitter. As NASCAR banned the “Hail Melon” move, he was quick to announce it on the social media platform about his decision to preserve Chastain’s car.

Read More: Ross Chastain’s Incredible “Hail Melon” wins an award at the Annual ES Awards 2022

He said, “These cars are strong. Because of that, the Martinsville “wall car” came back from the race with 90% of its parts reusable. Which means keeping the car exactly as it came off the track as show car would cost Trackhouse hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The 41-year-old also went on to explain why he made this decision. He added, “Ross’ move at Martinsville was a historic moment and should be preserved for the fans for years to come in physical form. This sport isn’t just about the balance sheet, it’s about passion and moments and people.” This made the fans go wild seeing an owner take this sort of initiative.

The specialty of the “Hail Melon” move

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Chastain was running 10th at Martinsville in 2022 but with his wall-hugging move, he went past five players to finish fifth in the race. What’s more interesting is that the NASCAR 2005 game he used to play in his childhood on GameCube inspired this move.

It is one thing to do it in a video game, but doing it so effectively in real life is something extraordinary. It could have gone horribly wrong for him, but it paid off quite well. That being said, the risks involved in it could have been life-threatening, which is why NASCAR took the bold step of banning it.

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While the video game move did go viral, we are unlikely to see it happen in the future. Good thing that Justin Marks decided to preserve the car as a souvenir.