Sean Gardner/Getty Images

NASCAR Officials Are Reviewing Incident From Saturday Night

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 30, 2025 1:28 PM ET

NASCAR will reportedly investigate the ending of Saturday's Xfinity Series race.

Taylor Gray led on the final lap before getting rear-ended by Sammy Smith at Martinsville. A wreck took both drivers out of the running for first, which Austin Hill captured instead. Dale Earnhardt Jr. admonished a chaotic race that Denny Hamlin called "absolute garbage."

According to FOX Sports' Bob Pockrass, NASCAR officially will review Smith's final-lap actions. They would likely assess any potential penalty by Tuesday.

Pockrass compared the situation to Austin Dillon's Cup Series incident last year. Dillon won at Richmond after bumping into Hamlin and Joey Logano, but NASCAR deducted 25 points and voided the win from granting the driver playoff eligibility.

Smith may have finished second behind Gray if not for his aggressive tactic. The Chevrolet driver instead placed 10th, and Gray fell to 29th.

After the race, Smith explained his actions to reporters.

"It's unfortunate. I'm not very proud of that, what I did. I mean, he just has no respect for me," Smith said. "And he was flipping me off under the red flag, swerving at my door ... I thought to myself, 'What would he do in this situation?' And he would have done the exact same thing."

Smith also described his tense encounter with Gray following the incident. The Chevrolet driver predicted more animosity between the two moving forward.

"He said he wants to go at it. We can go at it if he wants," Smith said. "I think, at the end of the day, it's probably gonna be a lot more going forward, and that's OK with me."

Despite saying he wasn't proud of how the race ended, Smith ultimately justified his decision.

"That's what you got to do. If you don't do that, you're gonna be the one getting run over," he declared. "I know everyone is going to be mad and upset at me and say I'm a dirty driver, but I don't care because everybody does it. And if I was just going to accept it and finish second today, then that just wasn't going to sit well with me."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: