NASCAR introduces tons of new rules and penalty changes, including banning Ross Chastain's "Hail Melon" move.
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60 comments
The hail melon was so cool. It’s not very safe so I understand why they would ban it.
Now we need to get rid of stage cautions at all tracks.
@Anubiam but I like to see a driver lap the entire field.
@Johnny Boy I just hit the rewind button.
I agree with roadcourses having no stage cautions. BECAUSE it screws up the Crew Chief strategy of trying to win the race. About time for removing stage caution at the roadcourse is one for NASCAR. ROSS CHASTAIN HAILMARY was funny but it can be unsafe..
@Johnny Boy Again, it ruins any reason to actually try and race for the first two stages because it would be inevitable to be a caution.
@ShinyMew76 Couldn’t agree more. just when I started getting into NASCAR they introduced the stages and I just couldn’t bother anymore. it’s just so artificial to be having planned yellows. Hate it so much.
I think to a certain extent, the hail melon being removed is going to be better overall for the sport, but I hope the rule is clear enough to avoid future controversy.
Taking away the Hail Melon? Makes sense to take away all the cool stuff.
@Mr. Sharpie The walls of certain tracks have used for years to gain advantages, so apple versus apple
@Shay_Mendez So you’re a doctor?
@John Coffelt it’s not the same thing as a Darlington stripe. When Darlington had guardrails on the outside cars would run IN CONTROL so close to the outside of the track they’d just kiss the rail and leave a scrape. What Chastain did is different. He deliberately wrecked his car but kept the throttle pegged, fingers crossed that it would rocket him to the front instead of killing someone.
@SpheredHawk67 or someone will just take a bad bounce and it’ll be too much for the gate to handle.
I will never understand why people are upset about the “Hail Melon” being banned, or just people talking about it. It was incredibly dangerous knowing the Next Gen car’s track record (literally). Not to mention Ross himself said he wanted it to be a one time thing.
Exactly, nobody really wanted to do it anyways
@Ben Johnson Been a fan my entire life, 26 years. This move needed to be banned, there is a gate on that wall that can break open and kill someone. They can’t get rid of the gate for safety reasons. It was a badass, cool, one time move, that should never be allowed to be done again.
@Bingus Worshipper exactly. The last thing this sport needs is a massive tragedy.
@SpheredHawk67 Agreed. Most of us remember what happened to the sport after the last massive tragedy. We don’t want another one.
@Bingus Worshipper well said.
The Hail Melon’s place in history was cemented today. The fact that it can never happen again keeps it unique
Well said.
Pretty much like Bill Elliott’s speed record in Talladega before the restrictor plate
It can still happen. Say a driver needs to be above position X to move on to the next round and since it only a time penalty the driver could still use it to his advantage. However since we don’t know the time issued it can still backfire
@Johnny Boy I’d imagine NASCAR would make the time penalty equal or greater to the advantage gained, otherwise it would be pointless. If someone did it again at Martinsville and they gained 2 seconds from the average lap, he’d likely get penalized 2 seconds, or likely even more just to drive home the idea of not wanting it to happen again, if there’s a bigger risk of actively *losing* spots because of it
@Finn Griggs BB cc back
The problem with this “ban” is that it is just the enforcement of an existing rule. They took the media coverage bump, and now it is we care about safety
We let people get hurt .but dont do that.. Fkn stupid
What rule?
I think it would have been unfair for them to have called it at that time. Nobody had thought of it, so NASCAR was never able to address that specific move as an unsafe act. Now they can say, moving forward, we think that is an unsafe act. Tbh I don’t like them telling the drivers how to drive, but besides that I have no problem with the rule.
I prefer to look at it as them changing the interpretation of that rule to cover a scenario that they hadn’t thought of
@Michael Sanderson yeah that’s exactly right! It would’ve been kinda unfair to initially address chastian’s move as illegal when it wasn’t something they had ever thought of. Ross Chastain is a rule maker, not a rule breaker! as DW would say
Ross Chastain is now forever immortalized in the NASCAR books for the “Hail Melon”…
If he doesn’t do anything going forward it will just be a random trivia question more than anything else
Let’s keep the one moment iconic and move on from it but don’t forget it. That’s how it should be for stuff like this
NASCAR: bans the Hail Melon
also NASCAR: will use Hail Melon in every commercial and promo this year
Facts
True,this is the new pass in the grass.
Might replace Kenseth vs Logano finally
Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it.
Pretty much
Ross Chastain was not a rule breaker with the Hail Melon, but rather a rule maker.
@Dan Daniels hes better than u at everything
HES STRONGET THAN U
ur the clown
r/youngpeopleyoutube
He’s a miracle maker ❤
Tech not true because they didn’t add a rule but enforcing an old one. So he should’ve been black flagged.
@M.H.E. by rule book he can be black flagged, that could be cheating for others who thought of the old system
I know a lot of people will be disappointed that the hail melon is banned but I agree. What I didn’t want to see is everyone on the last lap wall riding just to hold their position. Also it makes this moment so much more special.
Say what you want about NASCAR but they’re trying. I’ll give em that. For so many years it seemed like they weren’t listening but they’re trying to appeal to the masses and keep their hardcore fans happy at the same time
I just hope they remove the stage racing at some point in the near future
With all these new rule changes, (especially with the no stage cautions at road courses), I immediately was like: ‘Okay, what’s the catch?’
I get the playoff thing. I think that’s a nod to the upcoming negotiations for TV and the race teams with 36 charters and running every race as a driver. It’s essentially every “franchise” has an option of making the playoffs under the “win and in” requirement.
I agree with Eric that the last rule (re: Top 30 status in points) seems questionable, but it might have just been a carrot to offer the lower funded teams. Bring a GOLDEN CHARIOT to the track ONE WEEKEND, and you can be playoff eligible. It might give the smaller teams a needed jolt, some inspiration knowing that ANY win would get them into the playoffs.
Otherwise, I think most of these rules changes seem good, and make sense, and might even add some “precision” to road course races and less stupid laps under yellow. I like those a lot. And I also agree with Eric that the banning of the “Hail Melon” will making Chastain’s last lap at Martinsville a thing of LORE. They will talk about that lap in his Hall of Fame induction some day, if he ever makes it that far. I wouldn’t be surprised, considering what we saw last season.
And, making the playoffs means both extra screen time and also extra money from NASCAR. It’s expensive to run a team. Getting those extra funds at the end of the year could really help one of those small teams take that next step
I actually really like the playoff qualifying rule. Part of what comes with making the playoffs is MONEY. So, an underfunded team like Spire or RWR can focus on bringing a good car to a SuperSpeedway and making the playoffs. That extra money could then be used to expand the team, to get more competitive. As you said, it’s not like the 16 seed usually has any chance anyways
I agree, it seems Eric has forgotten that without the smaller team’s there would be no Nascar. We would be watching maybe 20 cars all Hendrick, Gibbs, SHR, and KFR with a few singles. Also I think it would bring more sponsors to the sport knowing they may have a chance at some serious exposure. I’ve been watching Nascar since 1980 and believe me these cookie cutter cars are like watching an Iroc race
16 seed in the playoff standings may not have been the true 16 seed though. See Blaney and Truex last year, both were easily top 10 in the regular season. Even small teams have a good chance to be in the top 30 as it was. If you can’t be top 30, sorry, you don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.
I think the Hail Melon is mixed with me. I see the safety, but if it could be allowed, and somehow only impact the competitor, I would like to see it continue. And how do you regulate an accidental occurence (flat right front tire, final lap, and maximizing your results, or just using the wall to stay out of the racing line on the finish?). I would think intent is a major factor. Baseball has this in its obstruction/interference rules with “intent”.
I love the new Road course rule on stage cautions. Hoping NASCAR sees it as a success and applies it to the ovals too. That way you keep the point stipulations for stages but aren’t artificially stopping the race. Stages wouldn’t get nearly the hate that they do if there weren’t cautions associated with them.
That playoff rule is a shocker mainly because it’s not really fixing a problem (admittedly doesn’t make it worse either). I thought when Eric mentioned it that they’d make it where you have to be top 20 or 25. Make it so a fluky 1 week needs to be backed up with some consistently. Last year, there were 32 playoff eligible cars in the field. I’m sorry, but if you can’t somehow, someway find yourself in the top 30, you don’t belong in the playoffs
Lastly the the Hail Melon lovers. As jaw dropping as that was to watch (I was there in person) the safety connotation is just too much to ignore. If a car blew a tire in front of him and shot up the track or something came off his car and hit a spectator, we’d all view this event different. It’s awesome Ross was willing to risk it all to move on, but it wasn’t just him he was putting at risk with a move like that
It’s in everyone’s best interest for the hail melon to be banned. Protecting the drivers against themselves, and not to mention if everyone does it, it’s not cool.
The top 30 spots rule I think stems from something LaJoie said on Stacking Pennies, that he was going into those last races (Daytona) not trying wild strategies or racing too crazy because even with a win he knew he couldn’t be top 30. Let those in contention battle and not mess it up with anything extreme. It does help owners points too for the case where a ringer at a RC really incentivizes a team to go for it.