[GameSpot] - NASCAR Will Now Penalize Wall-Riding Technique Popularized In Video Games

[343iBot]

NASCAR is taking steps to discourage a driving technique popularized in part by video games. For anyone just catching up, on the last lap of a huge race in 2022, NASCAR driver Ross Chastain cranked his car into fifth gear, slammed it into the wall, and zoomed past multiple drivers to finish fourth and qualify for the Championship Finals. Chastain said he learned the "wall-ride" technique from playing an old NASCAR game for GameCube.

Well, unfortunately for Chastain and any other drivers looking to try the same move, it's now a penalized technique by NASCAR. In a blog post, NASCAR said Chastain's move "made for an enthralling finish" at the event, but it carried a safety risk that NASCAR is uncomfortable with.

A NASCAR rule states that "safety is a top priority," and as such, "any violations deemed to compromise the safety of an event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of competitors, officials, spectators, or others are treated with the highest degree of seriousness."

Going forward, NASCAR officials will issue a time penalty for any attempt at an "unsafe maneuver" like the one Chastain pulled off in 2022.

"Basically, if there's an act that we feel that compromises the safety of our competitors, officials, spectators, we're going to take that seriously. And we will penalize for that act going forward," NASCAR executive Elton Sawyer said.

"Played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube."@RossChastain explained his video-game move. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/4jkF6BzAgk

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 30, 2022

At the time, Chastain said, "I played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube. I never knew if it would actually work [in real life]. I did that when I was eight years old. I just made the choice. I grabbed fifth gear... and fully committed. Once I got against the wall, I basically let go of the wheel..."

The tactic absolutely worked, but as you can tell from watching the dramatic video, things could have gone very badly for Chastain and others involved in the race. At the time, though, there was no rule against it. Even so, other racers criticized the move, saying it was "just a bad look."

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