Surprise Video Game Move Allows Ross Chastain to Advance to NASCAR Championship 4

"dalek" writes:

On the final lap of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville on Sunday, Ross Chastain used a move that he had learned playing NASCAR 2005 to pass five cars in the final quarter mile of the race and advance to the championship four. Had Chastain not advanced at least two positions at the end of the race, he would have been eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs, instead giving Denny Hamlin the opportunity to race for a championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Chastain's lap was the fastest lap ever recorded by a stock car at Martinsvile Speedway and was over two seconds faster than race winner Christopher Bell's final lap.

Chastain's attempt to intentionally drive his car into the wall and carry speed through a corner by riding the wall is not without precedent. Driver Kyle Larson called the move embarrassing after the race, but he attempted the same move in the final lap of a race at Darlington last year.

It might seem intuitive that the fastest way around a race track should be the shortest distance, which would be around the bottom of the track, but that is often not the case. One factor is that it takes time for the cars to accelerate and running a higher line can allow cars to carry more momentum through a corner. Running a higher line can also allow drivers to accelerate sooner coming out of a corner, effectively making the straightaway longer and allowing them to reach faster speeds in that section of the track. Although it is not case at Martinsville, some tracks like Homestead-Miami Speedway have progressive banking, meaning that the banking is steeper higher up on the track, making it more advantageous to run a higher line.

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