Kurt Busch pulls off Ross Chastain 'Hail Melon' after recent track return

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch has emulated Ross Chastain's famous 'Hail Melon' move in a social media clip.

Busch, who won his only Cup Series championship in 2004, had a stellar career in NASCAR's elite series, running in 776 races across 24 years before retiring in 2023.

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Sadly, Busch's retirement came due to a crash after an incident at Pocono in July that same year, during which the now 46-year-old sustained career-ending injuries.

However, in a positive recent update, Busch recently got behind the wheel at a racing event in Australia, representing the United States at the Race of Champions.

What an amazing journey it has been. To be on this stage and representing Team USA alongside my friend @travispastrana #RaceofChampions #rocaustralia pic.twitter.com/6NR8j7xVZi

— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) March 8, 2025

Kurt Busch emulates Ross Chastain move

Since his appearance at the Race of Champions, Busch has been traveling and is currently in Japan, where he managed to find himself an indoor track to race on.

The 46-year-old shared a clip of him taking to the track in one of the tiny cars, either taken from his or his passenger's point of view.

"Alright, we're gonna Chastain it," Busch proclaimed in a video posted on X, before driving the side of the car into the wall and skirting around the track.

"Don't do that again!" Busch's passenger tells him after the move.

Busch is of course referring to Ross Chastain's famous 'video game' move at Homestead-Miami back in 2022.

During the playoff race, Chastain put his foot to the floor, deliberately smashing into the wall and riding it around the outside at speed to overtake several of his competitors and make it into the championship four that season.

The move was dubbed the 'Hail Melon', but was outlawed ahead of the 2023 season, with NASCAR penalizing anybody who tried to do it.

Last year at the same track, for example, Christopher Bell pulled off the same move to try and advance in the playoffs, and whilst he passed who he needed to on track to provisionally book his spot in the championship four, he was quickly penalized and, as a result, eliminated from contention.

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