The Martinsville Truck Race is a highly anticipated event on the NASCAR schedule each year. The race, which took place on Friday night, was cut short due to persistent rain. While rain is a regular occurrence in motorsports, the timing of the race being called off sparked some controversy among drivers and fans alike.
However, what stood out the most was the rare show of solidarity between sworn rivals Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain.
Why Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain were angry after the Martinsville race?
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The race was filled with drama, excitement, and plenty of close calls as drivers battled for position on the tight, half-mile oval. The Long John Silver’s 200 experienced a delayed start due to weather conditions and endured an early finish due to a red flag accompanied by rain.
On lap 117, Carson Hocevar’s attempt to race three-wide with Taylor Gray and Matt DiBenedetto resulted in the final crash, which also prompted the end of the race. Hocevar, who has gained a reputation for his aggressive driving style, made contact with Gray, which induced a retaliatory move by Hocevar. In doing so, he struck Gray and spun himself out. The yellow flag was brought out, and the rain returned during the caution period.
As the race had passed its halfway mark, NASCAR decided to end it after 124 laps out of 200. At that point, Corey Heim was the leader, having taken the lead from Kyle Busch, who finished second. This win was Heim’s third career win and TRICON Garage’s fourth.
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Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain Unite Against NASCAR
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Rivals on the NASCAR circuit, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain joined forces to express their disappointment over the decision to cut short the Martinsville Truck Race due to rain. The duo was unhappy with the way the race was handled and believed that it could have continued with some adjustments. The race was halted after just 124 laps, denying fans the opportunity to witness a complete race.
Kyle Busch, who finished second in the race, was quick to point out that the track was not wet enough to warrant the suspension of the race.
Don’t call it rain, it wasn’t rain, it was dry. It was raining but the track was a little bit wet and the tires were drying the rest of the track the rest of the way.”
“Right now, honestly this is a little bit of a rain maybe, depending on the spray, but we didn’t even give it a chance,” he added.
“Wasting our time.”
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On his part, Ross Chastain was unhappy with the decision to switch to wet tires. He said, “We could have kept going. But at the end of the day, give us the option now that we know now that everybody’s watching this race like give the teams and the drivers and the strategy a chance to play itself out.”
“Don’t make us go dry and make us go wet. Let us let us have a little bit. We tear trucks up in the dry and race cars up in the dry every weekend. Let us let’s have a shot to play some strategy and they had plenty of grip in the concrete for sure.”
Ross Chastain is in favor of using the wet weather tires, if needed, in the Cup race Sunday after what he experienced in the truck race Friday at Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/FdPLBxTHyb
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 15, 2023
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