NASCAR driver makes historical past by rocketing forward with a videogame move

NASCAR driver Ross Chastain rocketed from tenth to fifth place within the ultimate flip of a 500-lap race yesterday, securing himself a spot within the end-of-season Cup race and in NASCAR historical past, too. And he did it with a move he realized in a videogame.

Chastain made use of the basic ‘wall-riding’ manoeuvre: accelerating into the racetrack barrier at full pace and letting it steer him previous 5 rivals. The foolhardy move not solely secured Chastain’s crew—Trackhouse Racing—its first ever look within the NASCAR Championship ultimate, however it additionally set the document for the quickest lap within the historical past of the Martinsville Speedway, where the race occurred.

Rising up, Chastain “performed a whole lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube” he mentioned in a post-race interview, “and I by no means knew if it might really work. I imply I did that once I was 8 years outdated”. That did not dissuade him, although: “I simply made the selection. I grabbed fifth gear down the again and full-committed” earlier than he “mainly let go of the wheel” and let the gods of inventory automobile racing resolve his destiny.

It clearly labored out, as Chastain’s place among the many 4 racers within the Championship this coming Sunday will attest, however not everyone seems to be thrilled in regards to the racer’s game-inspired antics. Final yr’s champion Kyle Larson instructed reporters that the move was “not a great search for our sport, in any respect […] I believe it is fairly embarrassing”. After all, Larson himself tried an analogous however unsuccessful move in a race final yr, so perhaps he is simply jealous of Chastain’s approach.

It is a dramatic instance of videogames crossing over into the true world, however it’s removed from the one overlap between the NASCAR world and ours. Various NASCAR drivers preserve their expertise sharp with iRacing, the rules-heavy racing sim that we fairly like ourselves. Personally, I am hoping Chastain unleashes one other game-inspired trick at Sunday’s ultimate. Possibly he can cheat the system by simply reversing over the end line right at the beginning.