Sammy Smith came from more than a car length back and wrecked Taylor Gray on the final lap at Martinsville in the Xfinity Series, allowing Austin Hill to unexpectedly sneak by underneath and pull off the win.
To no one’s surprise, the No. 21 driver’s victory, which was the 100th Xfinity win for Richard Childress Racing, wasn’t the top story. The No. 8 driver ramming into the rear of the No. 54 car was instead.
Numerous big names took to social media, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin, all condemning what happened on that final trip around the half-mile track. Heck, even Smith admitted in his post-race interview what he’d done was wrong and egregious.
Some, including Hamlin and his former crew chief and now Director of Competition at Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart, said this sort of driving should be penalized.
Why?
NASCAR isn’t opposed to this type of on-track behavior. You only have to look at the opening of the Xfinity broadcast on The CW to see NASCAR views this as all part of the entertainment.
Adam Alexander and Parker Kligerman began the broadcast mentioning how Jamie McMurray was absent and the former Xfinity Series driver joked that he they had “knocked him out just like they’re gonna do today.”
“There’s gonna be full contact at this racetrack today,” Alexander replied. “It’s a theme when you come to The Paper Clip.”
The @NASCAR_Xfinity pre-race show on The CW provided a preview of what was to come and why NASCAR doesn’t have any problem with what happened on the last lap between @sammysmithSS and @Taylor_Gray. It’s all part of the show. pic.twitter.com/cY4BpoxS9b
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) March 30, 2025
“It absolutely is,” Kligerman agreed as the broadcast then started showing clips featuring aggressive contact in recent Xfinity Series races, including Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs and the fight (April 2022), Gibbs and JGR teammate Brandon Jones (October 2022) and Sheldon Creed and RCR teammate Austin Hill (October 2023).
“Contact isn’t a maybe it is all but guaranteed and it happens in a big way,” Kligerman continued. “We’ll see it at the front of the field. We’ll see at the middle of the field. We’ll see at the back.
“It even leads to a bit of contact outside of the race car as well, Adam, and it doesn’t discriminate between teammates. You’ll see teammates running into each other, which we’ve seen in years past. It is a full-contact affair here. But it’s fun for us to watch and it puts on a heck of a show every time.”
Hours later, Smith drove into Gray very similar to how Gibbs did it to Jones in 2022. Nothing happened to Gibbs because NASCAR viewed it as racing for the win. This is no different.
Related: NASCAR Fans Upset After The CW Shows Kyle Busch Working Xfinity Series Booth
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