Kevin Harvick on Xfinity Series Disaster “My A** Would Be in the Trailer”
What’s Happening? Following a disastrous finish to the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR industry members have spoken out about…
Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Several drivers were involved in incidents throughout the afternoon, with the most controversial of all occurring in the last turn on the final lap. So, which NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers came out of Martinsville looking the worst?
Expectations are high for 19-year-old Corey Day. Not only is he an in-house prospect for Hendrick Motorsports, but HMS brass, like Jeff Gordon, also have glowing reviews of the dirt racer. As owner of HMS Rick Hendrick stated in the Jan. 9 press release announcing Day’s signing with HMS, “When Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon say someone is the real deal, it certainly gets your attention.”
This season, Day is racing a mixed schedule in the ARCA Menards, Craftsman Truck, and Xfinity Series. While the dirt racer has shown speed, winning the pole for the Truck Series race at Las Vegas, his outings have been rather lackluster, with the driver failing to score a top five in both Trucks and ARCA. So, with Day’s impending Xfinity Series debut this past Saturday, fans were interested to see how he would do.
Day started the race eighth and slipped back throughout the day. Though he finished on the lead lap, the only highlights from Saturday were his qualifying position and an incident with Harrison Burton on lap 54. Following this race and his earlier outings this season, some fans are questioning if Day actually has what it takes.
The truth is, it will take some time for Day to adjust to this new type of racing, but that doesn’t mean fans’ opinion of him may sour in the meantime. While insiders and racers endorse the multi-time High Limit Sprint Car Series winner, some fans aren’t buying the hype, and Martinsville only furthered this discontent.
While we will address the calamity in turn four momentarily, Austin Hill’s reputation, a winning one at that, did not leave Virginia unscathed.
First, this win only adds to his reputation as an opportunist, something his stats prove is an incorrect judgment, yet fans often mention it when Hill finds himself in victory lane. Fans’ dislike for Hill usually stems from this, combined with his status as a drafting track expert and an aggressive driver.
The latter of the two showed up at Martinsville as Hill almost spun Carson Kvapil, who was having a rough day at the Paperclip on lap 139. Of course, fans reacted poorly to this action. Hill also found himself blamed by fans for an accordion-styler wreck that unintentionally ended the day for his RCR teammate Jesse Love.
However, Hill is far from the worst offender from Saturday’s race.
Sam Mayer was another aggressor of Kvapil during the US Marine Corps 250. On lap 154, Mayer found himself aggressively blocking former JRM teammates Kvapil in the No. 1 and Connor Zilisch in the No. 88. After getting loose, Mayer squeezed the No. 1 into the inside retaining wall.
Regardless, most fans are not talking about this incident but rather Mayer’s actions on the backstretch with 19 laps to go. While Kaulig Racing teammates Christian Eckes and Daniel Dye raced for position coming out of turn two, Mayer, with a decent run, drove through the No. 16, ending the day for both Eckes and Nick Sanchez, the fourth party in this incident.
The most scathing review of Mayer’s actions may have come from an unlikely source, as Out of the Groove’s Eric Estepp stated in his race review, “Sam Mayer, about a year ago, was wailin’ about not getting Cup Series considerations, Sam this is why.” Mayer was off to a great start this season, and while he finished fifth and is second in points, this past weekend made some fans believe that the 22-year-old is still not ready for the next level.
This leads us to the man who is, at press time, the main person of interest leaving Martinsville and has yet to be penalized. Sammy Smith had a chance to win this race late; however, a late caution for a spin led to a late-race restart in which Smith lost the lead to third-place Taylor Gray.
As Gray secured the lead on the final lap, it looked as if Smith was set to finish second. However, rather than settle, Smith charged into the back of the No. 54, spinning the leader himself and slowing JRM teammate Justin Allgaier. This move awarded Hill the win but also led to a pile-up that left Smith 10th, a far cry from second, and in consideration for NASCAR penalties.
This was not the first run-in Gray and Smith had on Saturday, but it was the headline maker. Smith was once a high-leverage prospect for Toyota; however, his pace slowed immensely over the past two seasons; now, fan and peer opinion of the driver may be at an all-time low.
What’s Happening? Following a disastrous finish to the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR industry members have spoken out about…
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