Taylor Gray wants to let bygones be bygones. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver isn’t looking for revenge in the upcoming race at Darlington, despite being controversially spun by Sammy Smith in the last lap at Martinsville Speedway. Driving the No. 54 Toyota, the youngster was on the verge of securing his first win in the Xfinity Series, only to finish 29th at The Paperclip. However, Gray is holding no grudges, and it’s not for the usual reasons.

While it is clear that there is no love lost between the two racers, revenge is an investment that rarely pays dividends in the NASCAR world. Showing maturity beyond his years, Gray will be hoping to break his 20-race winless streak cleanly at the 2025 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200.

Taylor Gray doesn’t want his rivalry with Sammy Smith to spill over

Two races, two confrontations. It seems like Martinsville Speedway hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Taylor Gray, who was seen confronting Sammy Smith after the US Marine Corps 250. The tension was already high between the two racers during the final few laps at Martinsville Speedway, as the JGR driver made a slight bump-and-run for the lead, prompting Smith to retaliate by ramming his No. 8 Chevy into the rear of the race-leading No. 54 Toyota on the final lap. The move had disastrous consequences for both drivers, with Dale Jr.’s prodigy finishing 10th after causing a multi-car wreck.

When asked on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio if he was still holding a grudge against Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray candidly said, “I have too much respect for [JRM] to start wrecking their cars just to prove a point. If Sammy owned and worked on his own car, then I would probably be telling you a different story.” That’s quite a mature thought from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who is competing in his first full season in the Xfinity Series after making 13 appearances during the 2024 campaign.

Gray knows the value of his car and the cost of keeping it clean throughout the race. This was one of the major criticisms levied toward Smith after the fiasco. The JRM driver had no regard for his team’s equipment, going so far as to wreck himself and his teammate, Justin Allgaier. However, Gray mentioning that his thoughts would change if Sammy owned the car does indicate that there’s no love lost between the two. The JGR driver does not want a legend like Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports to have to bear the brunt of Sammy’s actions by retaliating and tearing up a JRM car. Gray is taking the high ground, and Smith has a lot to learn.

There’s no doubt that Taylor Gray deserved better than finishing just inside the top 30, especially after leading a career-best 87 laps. He was equally perplexed by Sammy Smith’s actions, saying in the post-race interview, “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.” However, as they say, ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind,’ a lesson Gray is taking to heart in his approach towards the rival.

At the age of 20, Taylor Gray has his entire career ahead of him. Beginning a feud in his first full season in the Xfinity Series is not the wisest course of action, especially with a team as reputed as JR Motorsports. The NASCAR world can be a small one, and the New Mexico native could find himself in a position to secure a seat on Dale Jr.’s team in the future. Will he want to jeopardize such a possibility by taking revenge? Wrecking Sammy Smith’s car would undo the hard work done by the No. 8 crew, who were not even responsible for the wreck.

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Christopher Bell weighs in on the Martinsville chaos

Naturally, Taylor Gray being robbed of a victory didn’t go down well with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. Despite competing in the Cup Series, Denny Hamlin couldn’t help but tweet “Absolute garbage” after the last-lap multi-car wreck at The Paperclip. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted that a track like Martinsville “deserved better,” even though he dismissed claims that a possible suspension might be on the cards for his driver, saying, “To, anybody who thinks I’m going to park Sammy like parking for a race – that’s out of the question. Never going to happen.” 

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell told journalist Claire B. Lang, “My blood was boiling inside the motorhome watching it. It was a disgrace for our sport. That should not be tolerated. Not just the last lap, but the whole thing. We’ve got to hold ourselves to better standards than that. That was embarrassing.” He went on to say, “Yesterday was absolutely embarrassing. Something needs to be done. I don’t know where it starts probably in NASCAR. Yeah, that was bad.”

NASCAR docked 50 points off Sammy Smith and fined him $25,000, but plenty of fans feel that harsher penalties should have been enforced. While Taylor Gray has assured us that he will let sleeping dogs lie, it remains to be seen if he will follow through with his words. It’s fair to say that a new rivalry is in the making, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the two racers will go head-to-head in the future as well.