Adam Alexander and Parker Kligerman on The CW’s broadcast almost predicated what was to happen hours later at Martinsville in the Xfinity Series. When Alexander mentioned that Jamie McMurray was absent, Kligerman joked, “knocked him out just like they’re gonna do today.” The older commentator couldn’t help but agree and predicted it was going to be a “full contact at this racetrack,” and that’s exactly what happened later.

After all, history guaranteed this. Think about Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs’ fight in April 2022, Gibbs wrecking JGR teammate Brandon Jones in October 2022, and later teammates Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill trading paint. So on Saturday, JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith rammed his Chevrolet into Taylor Gray’s car, spinning him out. This also resulted in a multi-car crash. Later, the two drivers in question had to be separated outside the infield care center.

The way the race ended made viewers and drivers angry. For instance, “Infuriating. My blood was boiling,” Christopher Bell reacted. After all, it was a clear violation of Sections 4.4 B&D of the NASCAR Rule Book (which prohibits intentional wrecking). And so, fans have not been kind to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s driver Smith and some of them took to social media to share their thoughts. Some of those fans received a response from Dale Earnhardt Jr.!

Fan: “Any discipline for Smith or you just gonna tweet through it.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “You think I’m supposed to broadcast how I manage those situations? Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

Indeed, Dale Earnhardt Jr has not been silent after Sammy Smith’s aggressive behavior unfolded at Martinsville. Along with the disappointed posts on X of other sports veterans, Junior also condemned his own driver’s moves. “The racetrack is historic in the grand scheme of all things NASCAR and deserves better,” he posted on X. Dale Jr may be more disappointed with Smith as he committed his actions in the No. 8–a car number very special to Junior.

He used it at the beginning of his career from 1999 to 2007. He retrieved the right to use it only last year. Last November, Dale Jr. debuted his iconic Budweiser paint scheme for the Florence 400 Late Model race. So, to see Smith use that legacy in a lackluster way must have stung.

Sammy Smith did take responsibility for his actions, but the lack of consequences seemed to bother the community. To add to that, Smith’s admission of guilt came with a slice of blame toward Taylor Gray. “Absolutely, it was egregious,” Smith said about his move on Taylor Gray. “I’m not proud of it, but he would have done the exact same thing to me, roles reversed… He just has no respect for me; he was flipping me off under the red flag and swerving at my door.”

This blame game only emphasized the point that the community is making. These drivers need to understand the consequences of their actions. Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin both called for a black flag to be waved at races in such situations. The Xfinity grid might be a place for young drivers to learn the ropes, but first, they need to learn to respect each other. As Christopher Bell said, “The Cup drivers respect each other more… It was a disgrace for our sport. That should not be tolerated, not the last lap, but just the whole thing.”

While the NASCAR community gets impatient with Dale Jr., a sports veteran also raised his eyebrows at the alarming events at Martinsville.

UPDATE: Smith has been fined $25,000 and also got 50 NASCAR Xfinity Series driver points docked for wrecking Gray (violation of Sections 4.4 B&D). Eric Peterson, Xfinity Series Managing Director, also stated, “We felt like after looking at all the facts, all the video, the team audio, SMT data and all the tools, we have to work with and review an incident like that. Unfortunately, what Sammy did was over the line and something that we feel like we had to react to. We would prefer to leave it in the driver’s hands but in this case, it wasn’t really a racing move and we reacted to it as such.”

The deduction of points drops Smith to 13th place (from sixth). Additionally, Taylor Gray was also fined $5,000 for infield care center conduct.

Another team owner stresses the responsibility…

Well, it is not easy being a team owner. Some of the active racers in the Cup Series who own teams include Brad Keselowski. The RFK Racing team owner has a championship-winning history with Team Penske. He achieved 35 of 36 Cup Series race victories and the 2012 title under that team, conquering legacy events like the Coca-Cola 600. However, when Keselowski chose to leave behind that golden legacy and invest in growing a team, he knew what he was doing.

So Brad Keselowski knows well how to manage a race team. After Saturday’s Martinsville events shocked him and he urged Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take a stern approach to his drivers. Sammy Smith may have a string of laurels to his name (he was the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East champion), but his team owner might need to have a word with him.

Keselowski emphasized the same in a post on X: “The solution needs to come from the car owners, not NASCAR. Until the car owners are willing to park their drivers for getting this out of control, very little will change. I get that they are all scared to park a funded driver out of fear they will lose the money to continue operations. At some point, that’s the risk you have to take to get this right.”

Evidently, the calls are mounting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to be more stringent. Until that happens, Sammy Smith may inspire other drivers to flout every bit of respect as flagrantly as he did. What do you think?