NASCAR Cup star Denny Hamlin is never at a loss for words, whether they are good or bad. But following the final lap mayhem of Saturday’s Marine Corps 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway, for at least one time, Hamlin was glad he held his tongue.
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“God I wish I were in the (broadcast) booth. I’d get fired but I damn sure would call those idiots out,” Hamlin wrote on X/Twitter. He then succinctly added in a following post, “Absolute garbage.”
Even NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t avoid getting caught up in the fray, saying on X/Twitter: “This racetrack is historic in the grand scheme of all things NASCAR and deserves better.”
What ultimately happened is open to interpretation, but the facts are this: during a previous red flag race stoppage, driver Sammy Smith incurred rival Taylor Gray’s wrath (nothing unusual between the two long-time rivals).
“He was flipping me off and that was the line where I ultimately made the decision I made,” Smith said of Gray. “I tried to do the best for my team and to win a (Martinsville Grandfather’s) clock and it just wasn’t good enough.”
There has been no love lost between Smith and Gray in the nearly 10 years they’ve raced against each other in a variety of series. After the 14th caution of the race sent it into overtime, when action resumed and as things tightened up on the final lap, Gray had the lead in what he hoped would be the first win of his Xfinity career.
However, as they came out of Turn 3, Smith tapped Gray from behind, sending him into the wall. While Smith saw nothing but the finish line ahead, he was also quickly wrecked, finishing 10th instead of his hoped-for victory.
“I thought he would have done the same thing to me, move me if I was in the lead and that’s what you have to do,” Smith said of Gray. “If you don’t do that, you’re going to be the one getting run over.”
“I know everyone’s going to be mad and upset at me and say I’m a dirty driver, but I don’t care because everybody does it. If I was just going to accept it and finish second, then that wasn’t going to set well with me,” he added.
Austin Hill Goes From Wrecking to Winning
When Smith got wrecked, it looked like Justin Allgaier would win. But he also got collected in a crash just before the finish line with Austin Hill. Hill then snuck by on the bottom of the track to earn his second win of the season, followed by Sheldon Creed and Allgaier in third.
“On that restart, it just got wild,” Hill told NASCAR.com. “We were definitely leaning on each other, and getting into (Turn) 3, I knew we were all going to get beating and banging, and I just drove it in as deep as I could.”
“They all hit each other, and I hit the 7 (Allgaier) a little bit and dumped him off and got on the apron there and came home with the win … Man, I’m in disbelief that we’re in Victory Lane right now. It’s unbelievable”.
“I actually said at the end of the race that I hated this place because of all the beating and banging that was going on — and to top it off, we won a hundred grand (for capturing the Dash 4 Cash bonus).”
Here’s What Taylor Gray Had To Say
As for Gray’s take on what happened, it was essentially may the best man win, regardless of how it’s done.
“We know we’re coming down to the end of the race,” Gray told NASCAR.com. “I was a little upset when he first hit me, just because I felt like I haven’t put a scratch on him all year. He could have raced me a little bit better. But then again, it’s Martinsville. I have to understand that that’s going to happen.”
“But what he did getting into (turn) three, I mean, it completely takes no talent. All you’ve got to do is just let off the brake pedal and just clearly destroy me. So I don’t know. It ruins his race, too.”
As for the season standings after the race, Allgaier remains in first place, Sam Mayer is second (-41), Hill moves into third (-47), Creed moves up one spot to fourth (-71), and Jesse Love drops two spots to fifth (-74). It marked the fourth time in the last seven Xfinity Series races at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped racetrack that the race was decided on the last lap.
