As far as drama goes, NASCAR’s Spring weekend at Martinsville didn’t disappoint. Though Sunday was quiet, it seemed like everyone had something to say about Friday and Saturday night racing action. So, who walked away as the biggest losers from this past weekend at the Paperclip?
Five races into the season, Corey Heim is off to another great start in yet another season stuck in the Craftsman Truck Series. He won the season opener, albeit after a DQ of winner Parker Kligerman, and won at Las Vegas.
Going three for five to start the Craftsman Truck Series would have been cool. However, that’s not the case for Corey Heim, who, after leading a massive 149 of 200 laps at Martinsville, found himself involved in a minor yet all-important incident, leaving him with a cut tire.
He recovered well from this incident, finishing sixth, but for a truck to have that much speed and not walk away with the win, aren’t we, the fans, the real losers?
We all know Shane van Gisbergen is a top-tier racing talent. However, his transition to NASCAR’s ovals has not gone well. Though he is a lock for a win this season, SVG and the No. 88 team find themselves 34th in points, the third-worst full-time entry.
SVG has one of the top 20 finishes at Circuit of the Americas; otherwise, his best finish on an oval is 23 at Atlanta, and on a true oval, his best finish is 31st. To compound this issue, despite struggles from his Rookie of the Year competitor Riley Herbst, SVG’s day at Martinsville saw the driver lose a wheel on lap 275 en route to a 34-place finish.
He currently sits 34th in points, nine points behind Hebrst in 33rd. SVG is currently averaging a 32.3 average finish on ovals in 2025., a far shot from his 19.7 average finish in the Xfinity Series last season. That says enough about the current state of the No. 88 team, right?
Team Penske has had an embarrassing start to the season. While they were fast at Daytona, issues abound, and they had a decent run. However, week in and week out, though they may have the best cars, it seems as if Penske cannot get a win.
Whether it’s penalties, late cautions, crashes, or blown engines, Team Penske has yet to find a victory lane in 2025. Additionally, and mostly in opinion, the team’s satellite team, Wood Brothers Racing, is the only Ford team to win a race in the three NASCAR National Series.
These issues continued Saturday at Martinsville, a track they are typically good at, when electrical problems spelled disaster for Josh Berry, who looked to have a winning car, and Austin Cindric wrecked yet another driver in 2025.
We’ve all said it or heard it this weekend, so let’s just put it out there. Sammy Smith had one of the worst moments of his young career this past weekend.
Racing for JR Motorsports in THE No. 8, Smith had a solid car that, while not the best on track, had a real chance to win. So, after losing Taylor Gray after turn one on the last lap, it looked like Smith would settle for second, that was, until he booted the No. 54 in turn three for the win.
Except Smith did not win the race. Teammate Justin Allgaier collected the No. 8, leading to a major accident that collected the bulk of the field and allowed RCR’s Austin Hill to walk away a winner. While Smith has been flamed for this move online, what is even more ironic is that he didn’t win and didn’t even score a top-five, as the No. 8 came home tenth.
While Smith caused the last lap pile-up, he’s far from the only offender at the Xfinity Series level this past weekend. In total, it’s hard to pick a clear-cut loser from this past weekend.
First, there were aggressive drivers like Smith, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill, who all had their moments in Virginia. Then there’s the plain and simple of it, that is, there were so many cautions and incidents that the Race Timeline on NASCAR.com looks more like War and Peace rather than a race recap.
Combine that with NASCAR veterans, industry members, Cup Series drivers, Hall of Famers, and MIKE JOY comparing this race to a Dumpster Fire. This one race may not be, but at least feels like the lowest point in NASCAR Xfinity Series history.
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