Could lightning strike twice for Ross Chastain?

He made one of the greatest Hail Mary attempts at Martinsville and it put him in the NASCAR Cup championship race. But could he -- or would he -- do it again?

PHOENIX – Faced with no alternative, Ross Chastain made a move this week so bold that he’d never considered.

He paid for wifi on his flight to Phoenix.

You thought we were referring to Chastain’s decision to pull off the most Hail Mary of auto racing’s Hail Marys on Sunday at Martinsville?

Where he grabbed fifth gear down the back straight of the last lap, loosened his grip on the steering wheel and powered his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet along the wall in turns 3 and 4?

That was massive. It gained him the two positions he needed to become one of four drivers eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. And it created a buzz about the sport well beyond the NASCAR world.

Significant as that moment was – it’s being called one of the most memorable in motorsports history – what followed put the 29-year-old Floridian in another position he’d never experienced. His phone blew up. He received about 1,000 text messages and, occupied this week with preparations for 312 laps Sunday in his quest to win a championship, time hasn’t allowed a chance to answer them all.

“I haven’t caught up,” Chastain said Thursday during NASCAR’s championship weekend media day.

Flying to Phoenix on Wednesday gave him a few hours to reply, except…

“I never buy internet on planes,” he said. “I bought the internet last night on the ride out and I texted the entire time. And I only got (to) 400.”

Welcome to another level of stardom, Ross.

Four days after the move at Martinsville, it remained a much-discussed topic as the championship-contending drivers – Chastain, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell – met with reporters.

“It’s wild to comprehend how far this has really gone,” Chastain said. “People that don’t really talk about NASCAR are talking about it. I am all for pushing the sport (but) I did not think it would be in that way.

"I will push this series as far as I can, (although) it won’t always be wide open around the wall. I’m proud that we’ve moved the needle for fans and casual people who were not fans who saw it and want to experience NASCAR and feel that thunder.

"I’m not saying every time we’re going to do what we did at Martinsville, but if you watch enough you’re going to see spectacular stuff (when we) push these cars over the limit.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton, former drivers who are part of the NBC telecast team, say Chastain’s move ranks among the greatest they’ve seen.

“When Richard Petty won his 200th (Cup race in 1984), it’s similar to moments like that,” Earnhardt said.

“In recent history we haven’t had anything that had this much buzz to it,” Burton said. “It shows that out-of-the-box thinking can take you places.”

It was so out-of-the-box that nobody expects to see it happen again, even at the one-mile Phoenix Raceway where turns 3 and 4 would seem to offer that opportunity if someone needs a desperation rush toward the start-finish line.

Ross Chastain was still enthralled at what he did in the final lap of this past Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway that put him in this Sunday's championship race in Phoenix. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Asked if the move might succeed at Phoenix, Chastain was blunt with his answer.

“I (didn’t) think it’s a move that could have any success at Martinsville,” he said. “I still don’t know why it worked.”

Chastain said it was physically jarring and still isn’t sure how his car held up.

“I looked at the physics of it, I had people explain to me what happened and what I felt, why that car did not slow down, why it kept air in the tires,” he said. “The right-front control arm is broken, but I was able to get it across the line before I could really feel it.

"Why did it work? I don’t know. But I have no ideas or plans to ever do that again. It was not pleasant.”

That doesn’t mean something else just as impressive won’t happen on Sunday. Former crew chief Steve Letarte, an analyst with NBC, predicts the outcome of the championship will come down to “a moment.”

“We’ve all become numb at what these guys do every week,” Letarte said. “We learned a lot about Ross Chastain in those two corners. He was willing to do something that no one had ever thought of or tried before.”

It may not be another full-throttle grind along the wall, but if Chastain can pull off another buzzer-beater – or buzz creator – at Phoenix like he did at Martinsville, one thing is certain.

He’d better plan to pay for wifi on the flight home.