NASCAR racer stuns crowd, uses video game-inspired technique to qualify for championship

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (TND) — A last-second, improvised move shot one NASCAR racer from 10th to 5th place, paying off and landing him in the championships.

After shocking the crowd atMartinsville Speedway on Sunday by intentionally slamming his car into the wall and fiercely accelerating, Ross Chastain told reporters that he got the idea from playing a video game.

Chastain's maneuver rocketed him forward at speeds estimated to be over 70 mph faster than the other drivers. It nabbed his racing team,Trackhouse Racing, its first championship appearance ever, the Associated Press reports.

The thrilling slingshot maneuver utilized by Chastain to quickly bypass five other racers in the last moments of the Xfinity 500 race was, according to him, inspired by the Nintendo GameCube game "NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005."

Oh, played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube with (younger brother) Chad growing up,” Chastain said after the race, according to the Associated Press. “You can get away with it. I never knew if it would actually work."

I mean, I did that when I was eight years old. I grabbed fifth gear, asked off of two on the last lap if we needed it, and we did. I couldn’t tell who was leading. I made the choice, grabbed fifth gear down the back. Full committed. Basically let go of the wheel, hoping I didn’t catch the turn four access gate or something crazy," Chastain reportedly added. "But I was willing to do it."

It should be noted that Chastain's video game-inspired technique on Sunday happened on NASCAR's shortest track, a 0.526-mile circle, and possibly the only track it could work on. TheMartinsville, Virginia racetrack has earned nicknames like the "Half Mile of Mayhem" for the unorthodox strategies fans can sometimes see there from drivers.

NASCAR's other tracks, which can beup to two miles long or more, don't offer the same type of opportunity for Chastain's gamble. The corners at some raceways are too long for "wall ride" techniques to really be useful, and certainly are not a great opportunity for copycats to attempt a repeat of Chastain's achievement.

Chastain's move sends him to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway next weekend. The racer he beat out for the spot,Denny Hamlin, told the AP he was disappointed, but impressed by Chastain.

Great move. Brilliant. Certainly a great move," Hamlin reportedly said of the video game-inspired tactic. "When you have no other choice, it certainly is easy to do that. But well executed."

Another racer who was eliminated by not placing in the race, Chase Briscoe, made a dry joke about "realism" in video games on Twitter following Chastain's qualification. Briscoe also noted that he was banned from the Esports video game racing platform "iRacing" for wall riding "about 10 years ago."

NASCAR hasn't commented on whether Chastain's wallride move was illegal.