The NASCAR Truck Series ran its penultimate race at Martinsville, while we expected it to be filled with drama and thrill. It got much more heated than anticipated since so much was on the line. Going into the race, only Grant Enfinger had advanced after winning both Las Vegas as well as Homestead races in the round of 8. Three vacant spots had 7 contenders fighting! Yes, some were in better positions than others, but a win was within everyone’s reach.

And when you are denied that opportunity despite working hard for it, it would naturally be disappointing. And hence Taylor Gray’s reaction might not be ethical but is understandable. The Tricon Garage driver entered the race -24 points below the cutline; a win was probably his only way in, but Christian Eckes stood in his way. Yes, hard racing was expected at the eliminator, but certainly not in the way Eckes did, resulting in boos from the crowd when he came to give his post-win interview. A furious Gray, stripped of a chance to bag his first Truck Series title, has warned Eckes to watch out!

Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes lock horns at Martinsville

Here’s what happened: Gray was in a must-win situation, and after starting 3rd, he finished 4th in stage one. Only momentarily dropping outside of the top 10, the #17 was pretty much in a good position. He even climbed into the top 5 for the final stage. And on the final restart with 5 laps to go, Eckes had the lead and Gray was in P2. However, Gray tried to take the outside line to pass Eckes and succeeded, only to get bumped out of the way by Eckes. This had Gray drop to the 4th position as the #19 took the checkered flag.

This was not all. Christian Eckes, on his route to victory lane, also shoved his teammate Ben Rohdes out of the way when he tried to take the lead away in the final laps. Is this kind of racing really ethical? And eventually, a P4 for Gray did not prove to be enough to make the Championship 4. The frustration of Taylor Gray was evident, as after the race he bumped Eckes to let him know that what he did was uncalled for. However, Eckes disagreed since he was hell-bent on doing anything to bag a win.

In the post-race interview, Eckes said, “Like I told everybody, I wasn’t going to let us lose this race. The truck was too good. The 17 [Gray] was just hard racing. I feel bad about the 99 [Rhodes]. I just got way too loose entering the corner. Everybody’s (not) really happy with me, but I don’t really care.”

While Eckes’s interview was going on, Gray stomped his way to him to give him some peace of mind. He said, “Do you know how many chances I had to ship you into the (expletive) fence?”. Eckes showed no remorse with his reply, saying, “You should have, I guess.” While the audio was unclear, Gray spoke something about the next race, which is the finale at Phoenix, before blasting off from the scene.

Later, FOX reporter Amanda Busick caught him for a quick chat where he detailed what happened on the track and the consequences that would follow. Gray said, “I got shipped to the fence whenever I raced him perfectly clean in one and two. What comes around goes around. I have to race him next year all year long. So I guess he’s got that one for him.” While he did not mention anything about Phoenix, when asked about his confrontation with Eckes, he said, “Ah..it doesn’t matter.” However, Amanda was adamant about knowing his plans with the #19 in Phoenix and whether the Mexican was looking for a tit-for-tat. To this Gray has a two-word reply, “Clean racing.”

Well, only time will tell if he races race Eckes clean or not in the finale. Since clean racing did not prove fruitful at Martinsville, he would now have to wait another year to take a shot at the championship.

Would we see a repeat of the 2023 finale at Phoenix this year?

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Reaching the top 8 is a big deal since you have to show consistency the whole season. A driver gathers enough points, weathers uncertainties, faces unforeseen car problems and still finishes the race in the top spots to contend for a championship. After all this, if you are denied a chance to progress by no fault of your own, it often makes the driver vengeful. Like what happened in the case of the 2023 Truck Series finale between Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim.

In the race, Hocevar spun Heim for the lead, putting Heim several positions down. Heim knew he wasn’t going to win the championship, but he wasn’t going to let Hocevar, either. Heim backed a little, and Hocevar came to his outside and pinched him in the wall, ending both his and Hocevar’s championship chances. Who’s to tell Taylor Gray would not attempt something similar on Christian Eckes as he comes in a championship-winning position?

And precedence has shown that NASCAR doesn’t take kindly to such incidents. Heim was fined $12,500 and docked 25 points, ending his season in 4th position behind Hocevar in 3rd. However, this might not stop Gray.

Even The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck believes that Gray has no benefit from racing clean; then why would he? Gluck took to X to write, “This playoff system largely does not reward how Taylor Gray raced there. It rewards how Christian Eckes raced…and Eckes said as much during the convo heard on TV. Unfortunate, because now Gray has no incentive to race cleanly in the future, nor does anyone who watched this.”

What do you think? Would Gray pull a stunt like Corey Heim at Phoenix?