Photo: Getty Images
The moment went viral (over 200 million people watched the various clips), but if you missed it, here goes.
Nascar driver Ross Chastain needed to make up two positions to make it into the final round of the Cup Series playoffs. With one lap to go his spotter, Brandon McReynolds, radioed to remind him of the situation.
“Just one more [lap],” McReynolds said. “Two spots here.”
“Gotta get ’em?” Chastain asked.
“Yeah, gotta get ’em,” crew chief Phil Surgen chimed in. “Need two.”
Martinsville is a half-mile track where a lap only takes about 20 seconds. Realistically, Chastain had no chance.
So he upshifted, held the gas pedal down, and intentionally slammed his car around the turn’s three and four wall to make his car turn. (If you look at the telemetry, he apparently took his hands off the steering wheel until he reached the front straight.) The impact broke steering components, tore up his brakes, and exposed his body to an approximately 5G lateral load.
But the resulting turning force allowed him to run that final lap in just over 18 seconds. And pass five cars.
And make the final round of the playoffs.
Keeping your world small
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