NASCAR's ban on Ross Chastain's move: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece express their support to the rule

Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain's antics that won him a seat in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 have been outlawed by the governing body as the fraternity came to find out recently. While the move sealed the 'Melon Man's' fate in the 2022 playoffs, it has been a topic of discussion within the sport for quite some time now.

Chastain managed to pilot his #1 MOOSE Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a P5 finish during Xfinity 500 last year. The 500-mile-long race saw the Alva, Florida native take to the outside wall of the track and ride his way around his rivals in one final attempt to make it into the playoffs, which he did.

The move, spectacular as it was at the time, was later talked about by NASCAR drivers as well as fans and gathered mixed reactions. The governing body's updates to the rulebook ahead of the 2023 season banned the same in light of the potential risk it poses to the safety of trackside officials and fans, not to mention the driver itself. After the verdict was passed, several active drivers spoke about the same, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being one of them:

"I think it's the right call for sure. I feel like they could have made that call right after that happened because it's never been done before and not really been an issue. Going forward, everybody knows what the rules are. My guys are probably glad that I can't try it because it destroys a race car. I think all in all it's definitely the right call."

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece also backed NASCAR up in taking the difficult decision to ban an incident that garnered so much attention from around the world and said:

"I don't want to be put in a position where I have to make that split-second decision to ride the wall because the other day it was a perfect storm. I remember where I was when I watched it happen, it was amazing. But it certainly can go the other way, so I understand why they did what they did. Sometimes you gotta keep us from hurting ourselves."

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NASCAR updated several rules alongside banning the 'Hail Melon' on safety grounds

Along with outlawing 'Hail Melon', several tweaks were made to the NASCAR rulebook ahead of the 2023 Cup Series season to make racing closer and more exciting than ever. One of the most talked about changes was removing stage breaks for road-course events, along with the Choose Rule coming into effect at Superspeedways as well as Dirt events. Loose tire penalties were also revised with some respite for the crew members this year.

Watch the 2023 NASCAR season kick off from the LA Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash this weekend.