The Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night ended in an ugly mess that angered drivers and left several of the sport’s top broadcasters calling out NASCAR and the drivers for not cleaning up their act. For those who missed the race, Sammy Smith bumped leader Taylor Gray out of the way during overtime on the final lap, leading to a multi-car crash and allowing Austin Hill to take the win.
A replay of the #NASCAROvertime finish at @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/fGJecynkQT
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 29, 2025
During Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville, the entire NASCAR on Fox booth urged NASCAR to take action to get the Xfinity Series drivers under control. Play-by-play announcer Mike Joy stressed that this was not an isolated incident of aggressive driving. “I said the Xfinity Series was a dumpster fire; it’s not,” Joy commented. “A dumpster fire is contained, and that series is not right now.” Kevin Harvick added, “It’s not what we all want to watch and not the racing that we were brought up in. It’s unfortunate that we had to watch all that.”
Clint Bowyer, a former Xfinity Series champion, indicated that such blatant actions deserve penalties, stating, “If it’s that outlandish, that is a simple answer to me.” He also referenced the prerace meeting before Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race, where drivers were warned that “respect” would be key in race control. Bowyer remarked, “Just to say respect is going to fix it—well then they need to get out of the way with those security guys and let those guys learn about respect,” hinting at the potential lessons a post-race scuffle could teach on pit road.
The @FOXNASCAR booth sounds off on the end of the Xfinity Series race last night. Pretty strong takes from all three.
Mike Joy: “I said the Xfinity Series was a dumpster fire, it’s not. A dumpster fire is contained, and that series is not right now.”
Kevin Harvick: “It’s not… pic.twitter.com/yD6IyWL05T— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) March 30, 2025
Joy, Harvick, and Bowyer weren’t the only NASCAR broadcasters criticizing Saturday’s finish. Analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed on X, “This racetrack is historic in the grand scheme of all things NASCAR and deserves better.” Meanwhile, NASCAR star Denny Hamlin labeled the race finish as “absolute garbage,” adding, “God I wish I were in the booth. I’d get fired but I damn sure would call these idiots out.” Additionally, analyst Jeff Burton commented on X that “some of these guys needed to have the experience of racing with Jack Ingram and Tommy Ellis,” indicating that legendary drivers would have settled such issues with payback on the track or afterward.
As Joy humorously pointed out, the first step in resolving a dumpster fire is to put out the fire, which now falls to NASCAR.
