You know a race was bad when NASCAR themselves calls it a “disaster.” Yup. Those were the Senior VP of Competition at NASCAR, Elton Sawyer’s words after the Xfinity race at Martinsville. The race was pure chaos, with 14 cautions, out of which nine came in the final 100 laps. And the incident that caused this uproar was Sammy Smith wrecking Taylor Gray on the final turn. And now, everyone is taking potshots at Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s driver. Recently, an insider called it an ‘all for nothing moment.’ And, he seems to have logical backing to it.
Folks, yes, we feel bad for Taylor Gray. It could have been his first Xfinity Series win. But this incident is not the first of its kind, and neither will it be the last. However, drivers need to be held accountable, and NASCAR needs to set a precedent. However, this incident has so many people mad because nothing good came out of it. Eventually, half the field was wrecked at the end. And Sammy Smith finished in P10! All this for a P10 doesn’t seem right. But maybe going through the course of events makes some sense in those actions.
Sammy Smith did not even win in the end!
So, here’s a quick recap on the whole shenanigan. On the final restart of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville, Sammy Smith was leading with Taylor Gray on his bumper. And as we approached the white flag, Gray took the inside line and charged past Smith to lead the race. But the JR Motorsports driver wasn’t going to let go of the position he had. And from several car lengths back, he dove into Gray’s rear bumper. This spun the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. And even Smith got loose wrecking the field behind him. Eventually, Austin Hill sneaked past all this Mayhem to take the checkered flag.
And when Smith was questioned on his antics, he said, “It’s what you got to do.” Well, but he did not win in the end. And that’s what made Motorsports journalist Brad Gillie disappointed. He was on PRNlive, where he said, “I’d have more respect if he had won. And I don’t really have any for it. I mean, there were a lot of things that’s happened in that race. Nothing that severe. But if you are going to do something like that, at least get a trophy.” And, this is a fair point to make.
Well, hard racing is part of NASCAR, and it may have meant something had he won. Smith’s playoff berth would probably be revoked, but at least it would count as a win for him. And honestly, Smith deserved to win just as much as Gray. Both ran in the top 10 the whole day. But in the end, that wasn’t the way to go about it! This reminds us of the fall Richmond race from the Cup Series last year.
Remember when Austin Dillon was leading the race, but Joey Logano passed him and took the lead? Dillon dived in Logano, spinning him too. And when Denny Hamlin tried to sneak past them, Dillon wrecked him! But in the end, the RCR driver at least finished his job. He went on to win the race. Well, Dillon could not take Richard Childress to the playoffs with it, but it would still always count as his 5th Cup Series win. And that’s what Gillie meant with his comment. However, this Martinsville incident made the Xfinity Series race one of the worst ones in recent memory, and NASCAR has some plans to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But, for that, they need to dive deeper into the real reason behind the outlash.
NASCAR’s plans to make the Xfinity Series great again
Folks, the outlash isn’t just about the Smith-Gray incident or just the Martinsville race. It’s about the Xfinity Series as a whole. Look at the Homestead race. Kyle Larson was set to win. But on the final restart, Sam Mayer got in his back and ruined his chance for a triple. The Xfinity Series drivers need to calm their nerves in the crucial moments of the race. Well, Sammy Smith has been fined $25,000 and has 50 points docked. This puts him in the 13th place instead of the 6th. However, this doesn’t seem harsh enough.
A suspension would have probably been apt here, but NASCAR chose not to do that. Elton Sawyer spoke on this recently. He said, “Historically, we’ve tried to stay with points and money on a situation like that. Sammy is a prime example of a young man that’s got a great deal of talent. Obviously made some mistakes at the end of that race that he’s going to have to learn from. We have to step in and help him with that process, and that’s what we did.”
And according to Sawyer, they won’t let this pass that easily. They have planned to meet the drivers at the upcoming Darlington race and put their message across. “I think it’s mostly just letting them understand, or at least give them the message of how they can process what happened (last) Saturday and how they learn from that and earn the respect of their fellow competitors. NASCAR racing, we’ve been built on, pushing and shoving is fine, tire marks are fine, and that’s OK. It’s a contact sport. We totally get that.” Let’s hope to see more clean finishes to an Xfinity Series race in the future.
What do you think about the Martinsville incident? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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