“You’ve created a disaster here with these young guys,” joked Clint Bowyer. The FOX Sports commentator was addressing Dale Earnhardt Jr. when talking about Sammy Smith’s last-lap incident at Martinsville Speedway. The 20-year-old turned into the biggest NASCAR sensation for all he wrong reasons, with plenty of criticism from fans and notable figures within the NASCAR community, who have blamed him for taking away Taylor Gray’s chances of winning the US Marine Corps 250.

However, his employer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has stood firm by Smith’s side. While the Iowa native admitted he was “not proud” of his actions, Junior has trashed claims regarding a potential punishment, even though he hopes his racer makes better decisions going forward.

Speaking of Smith, the driver was not completely apologetic. “I know that everyone is going to 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 today, then that just wasn’t going to set well with me.” And Smith really wanted that win, considering the history of the track.

Martinsville Speedway holds a special place in the hearts of NASCAR fans. After all, the ‘Paperclip’ has been part of the stock car racing series since 1949, and is easily one of the most venerable tracks on the calendar. Given its stature, the last-lap incidents were nothing short of embarrassing, with many racers having no interest in driving cleanly. Right in the middle of it all was Sammy Smith, who spun Taylor Gray in Turn 3, a move that resulted in a 50-point deduction as well as a $25,000 penalty.

However, in the eyes of many fans, the punishment was just a slap on the wrist. Many urged NASCAR and Junior to suspend him for a race, a possibility that was quickly refuted by the JR Motorsports co-owner. Speaking on the Dale Jr. podcast, the veteran racer said, “There are a lot of people out there that are like, ‘Oh man, NASCAR’s gotta park him. Dale Jr. should park him.’ You know, anyone who thinks I’m gonna park Sammy, that’s out of the question. Never gonna happen.”

At the age of 20, Sammy Smith still has a lot to learn if the incident at Martinsville is anything to go by. Even though Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognizes that the frustration with the Iowa native is at an all-time high, he wants to shield his young racer from the online hate. Junior said, “Sammy’s my driver. Ya’ll can continue to be p-ssed and think what you want. I got to shift to what do I do to give Sammy the best advice. I got to figure out how Sammy can clean this up.”

The reason behind Junior’s comments? There was an online uproar that wanted teams to act against their drivers for such moves. The most prominent name talking about this was another team owner, Brad Keselowski. “I’ve been really quiet on this over the last few days but it’s clear this is important to fix and also clear that it’s bigger than 1 race weekend. My 2 cents- 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 to operations. However, at some point, that’s the risk you have to take to get this right. I believe if all of the teams do it together, it would work,” he posted on X.

Dale Jr. certainly doesn’t agree, but there are more important questions waiting if Junior doesn’t want to punish his driver. While Smith’s actions can be attributed to inexperience this time around, will Dale Earnhardt Jr. be able to defend him if such an incident occurs again? Unlikely. However, Junior has never stopped supporting his drivers. He backed Allgaier for years, and it paid off in 2024 when he won the Xfinity title.

Christopher Bell, who tuned into the US Marine Corps 250, couldn’t help but say, “Infuriating. My blood was boiling” while Xfinity Series veteran Jeremy Clements said, “Really disappointed in the lack of respect on the track tonight.” While it’s refreshing to see Junior defend his young racer, it’s time for Sammy Smith to repay that faith by not just achieving better results, but with better conduct both on and off the racetrack.

Is race craft becoming a lost art?

Sammy Smith’s move in the last lap was just the tip of the iceberg. The Xfinity Series race at Martinsville was an ugly and embarrassing display of drivers bulldozing their way through. Originally scheduled for 250 laps, the US Marine Corps 250 went on for six more laps because of a late incident. Out of the 14 cautions, 12 came because of spins and wrecks, and after a 54-lap run at the start, the longest the race went between cautions was just 20 laps. Not a pretty sight, right?

It says a lot about the quality of racing that a 250-lap event took nearly two and a half hours to complete, prompting Denny Hamlin to say, “Absolute garbage” on X. Over the years, it has become apparent that younger drivers are not afraid of making contact with their rivals, maybe because of NASCAR not policing their actions well enough. Not only are wrecks expensive for teams, but they also reflect badly on the future of the sport. However, win-at-all-costs is proving to be the dominant mindset amongst younger racers.

Last year, Austin Dillon was stripped of his playoff eligibility after wrecking Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on his way to victory at Richmond Raceway. That penalty was meant to be a statement to NASCAR drivers to race cleanly, but it’s clear that the message didn’t hit home. Will the 50-point deduction and $25,000 fine do the trick? Time will tell. If it doesn’t, NASCAR may need to begin suspending drivers to preserve the integrity of the sport.