Dale Jr. and Richard Childress’s Driver Bring Unwanted Shame as Denny Hamlin Name-Drops the Culprits

“Absolute garbage.” Denny Hamlin’s verdict after the Martinsville Xfinity Series race demonstrated the overarching sentiment in the garage. The Saturday race featured a jaw-dropping 14 caution flags strewn across 104 laps – the most in a NASCAR Xfinity race in 18 years.

Of the final 202 laps of the race, an incredible 51 percent were run under the yellow flag. Sammy Smith stood out among the culprits behind this chaotic state, but Hamlin pointed out more. The wreck fest reached a climax on the last lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 driver took revenge. He plowed his car into Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray, causing a ruckus for a volley of other cars. A few cars got away with good finishes in this regard, and Denny Hamlin does not spare them.

Dale Jr.’s star reignited an old rivalry at the Paperclip. Sammy Smith and Taylor Gray have exchanged barbs during their ARCA Menards Series career, especially in 2022. The same exchange of blows ensued throughout last Saturday, with Smith reaching his wit’s end when Gray flipped him the bird. So Smith decided to rob Gray’s first chance to win a NASCAR race on the final lap. In the process, however, Austin Hill also hit the back of Justin Allgaier and charged for the lead. Richard Childress’s driver grabbed the checkered flag, marking RCR’s 100th Xfinity Series victory. Close behind him, Dale Jr.’s other rowdy driver, Sam Mayer, also took advantage of the chaos and finished in 5th.

According to Denny Hamlin, these two racers could not be absolved of any less chaos than Sammy Smith. In a recent ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode, the JGR driver rolled out his list of rabble-rousers: “Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith – all drove like a——-.” Then he explained how exactly they contributed to the chaos: “There were three incidents in particular. The 21 when he ended up wrecking the guys way up in front of him. Sam Mayer just flat-out would not get off the back of the Eckes one. And then at the end of the race. Nobody wants them to have to get into these balls and strikes calls. But these are not balls and strikes, these are pitches to the head.”

Denny Hamlin is hardly alone in bashing these drivers’ reckless racing styles. NASCAR Hall of Famer and 27-time Xfinity race winner Jeff Burton also voiced his concerns. “The entire race was just unacceptable,” he fumed. But it probably stings Dale Earnhardt Jr the most. JR Motorsports started the year on a high note with Justin Allgaier leading the team on its first-ever Cup Series entry in Daytona. Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier then brought multiple victories, so Sammy Smith’s actions were a solid dampener.

Dale Jr himself bashed his driver’s actions: “This racetrack is historic in the grand scheme of all things NASCAR and deserves better.” Even Hamlin jumped into the conversation, replying with a, “God I wish I were in the booth. Id get fired but I damn sure would call these idiots out.” 

However, for Hamlin, the bigger aspect here is setting a precedent. “The sanctioning body needs to get involved a little bit and step in on egregious things. I think it’s continued to ramp up, right? We’ve seen this stuff. It used to only happen on green-white-checkereds. Then this place, it seemed like inside 20 [laps] to go, people would lose their minds. Those guys yesterday did it with 50 to go, absolutely just creaming each other. It was just horrible driving by most of the people out there. It’s just not a good look.”

What is more, the first-person witnesses of the chaos were shocked to their core. While broadcasters usually shun personal opinions, this prompted a bitter response.

A seasoned veteran shook his head in dismay

Well, Mike Joy has been working in the sport for 25 long years. He has been a key figure in Fox’s NASCAR coverage since 2001. His initial pairing with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds lasted 15 years and became arguably the most recognizable broadcasting trio in modern NASCAR history. So Joy has seen the crazy crashes of the sport, covering many controversies and conflicts. From Carl Edwards deliberately flipping Brad Keselowski into the catch fence in 2011 to Ryan Newman’s spine-chilling tumble in 2020, Joy has seen a lot. So when such a veteran deviates from his usually energetic broadcasting to point out the chaos unfolding in Martinsville, you’d know something is wrong.

Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, and many others received the news of the trouble later. But Mike Joy was at the venue, covering the races with Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. When Erik Jones drove hard into the No. 16 Kaulig Racing car of AJ Allmendinger in the Cup race, Joy couldn’t help but allude to the Xfinity race a day earlier. “In Turn 1 and Allmendinger repays the favor and it was more than bumper tag. It sent him up a lane. Watch this. Looks a little like last night’s Xfinity Series dumpster fire.” Then he savagely corrected himself: “Well, I’m sorry. I said the Xfinity series was a dumpster fire. It’s not. A dumpster fire is contained and that series is not right now.”

Evidently, the Martinsville fiasco will set a precedent for upcoming Xfinity Series races. Hopefully, NASCAR’s actions would contain the racers’ wild rampages.