Kyle Larson was not impressed with Ross Chatain’s wall riding move that got him a place in the Championship 4 race.
In a crazy turn of events, Chastain booked himself a place in the Championship 4 race after he maneuvered a video game move by riding himself against the wall. He jumped 5 places from 10th to 5th place by riding at full speed against the wall at Martinsville Speedway.
However, not everyone was pleased with his move and one of the people was Larson. The defending champion was left unimpressed with Chastain’s move and he said that it was embarrassing and “not a good look for our sports”.
“Jesus was hated first and among all the people” – Ty Gibbs compared himself to Jesus after wrecking his teammate at Martinsville for the victory
However, Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart didn’t go by Larson’s criticism and called him out for hypocrisy.
“So he chose the last corner to do it. No rule or no sporting issue with that. It’s a tool in the kit and he used it. I never would have guessed it, neither would anybody but Kyle Larson. I’ve seen him do it at Darlington. No I wouldn’t change anything. That’s an interesting tactic. I don’t know, I have so much respect for Kyle Larson, for him to say that causes me pause. Can’t help but think that had he won the Southern 500, he wouldn’t necessarily say that.”
Gabehart was referring to the move Larson made a year ago at Darlington. However, unlike Chatain’s move that got him into the playoffs, Larson’s move didn’t pay off.
What Gabehart meant was that if Larson pulled his move right enough, he wouldn’t be criticizing Chastain right now. Since he didn’t, he is now criticizing Chastain for the same move he tried and failed. Hence the hypocrisy of Larson’s bad-mothing Chastain’s move right now.