Martinsville Speedway is the oldest track in the NASCAR program, the only one surviving from the inaugural year of Cup Series competition in 1949. She’s produced some of the greatest finishes in the sport, including last Halloween when Alex Bowman knocked out Denny Hamlin in an overtime win. A shortened distance to 400 laps in 2022 should only fuel the passion.
It is not.
At the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 on Saturday night, the track looked 73 years old and dozed off with a snoozer that ended well after 11pm. William Byron won a race with no green passes for the lead and minimal drama, even with another overtime finish. Just four cautions – two for stage disruptions – halted the action at a track that last fall saw four bumps and runs in the last 44 laps of the race alone.
Will Smith’s slap in the face at the Oscars has made more contact than a track that bets its reputation on it.
“It was definitely harder to overtake,” said second-placed Joey Logano. “I don’t think anyone could really exist without giving someone a shock. It was a lot more challenging and it’s harder to get there… you just really got stuck.”
That’s two races, two touches for a NASCAR series that prides itself on its short track action. There were a few mitigating factors for Martinsville Saturday night, including the weather. The race was delayed by sleet while 40 degree temperatures prevented rubber from contaminating the track and adding grip. Byron also got the setup perfect and let everyone catch up as he led 212 of the final 218 laps of the race.
But there was no denying that there is a problem with the next-gen chassis on the sport’s most important track type. Local short circuits are the linchpin of NASCAR’s future, stars born from burrowing and gouging their way to late-model racetrack victories. It’s the equivalent of a minor league baseball system where Saturday night wins under the lights get you noticed for Sunday.
“I probably get more fans going to a race in Hickory or Pensacola or New Smyrna,” Byron said of short-track moonlighting, “than doing anything here at the track.”
That should mean that the short-track cup races that NASCAR hosts in Richmond, Bristol and Martinsville should be the pinnacle of the half-mile experience: a combination of driver skill, frayed fenders and non-stop side-by-side action. You’d think that adding downshifting to the equation this year with the new car would help drivers differentiate and lead to more overtaking, spinning and short temper.
Instead, riders just run in place, stuck in dirty air, unless multiple ruts like Richmond allow them to avoid each other and run like a 1.5-mile oval. One-groove tracks can’t work with the rock-solid next-gen exterior, making it nigh impossible to shove someone out of the way and upset their rhythm.
The answer comes in the form of tweaks to the package, which a team may not get until 2023 for short stretches. NASCAR would be wise to consider them even earlier, especially with the Bristol Dirt Race following the same monotonous formula on Easter Sunday.
traffic report
Green: William Byron — Last month I wrote about how Byron fell short of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates after ruining the year twice. Well, the sport’s first multiple winner this year is making headway with former Camping World Truck Series crew chief Rudy Fugle and may be Kyle Larson’s best internal challenger for this year’s championship.
Yellow: Chase Elliott — Yes, 185 laps from pole was a step in the right direction at one of Elliott’s best circuits. He’s still the league leader, with a 3-point lead over Blaney after Martinsville. But at raw speed, it still feels like NASCAR’s most popular driver is fourth best on the four-headed Hendrick totem pole right now.
Red: Martin Truex Jr. — Finishing 22nd without a lap lead at a track where Truex has won three of the last five races? That’s looking bad as the missed opportunities for the No. 19 team continue to add up.
Speeding ticket: Kyle Larson — This time, a speeding ticket prevented Larson from a better finish at Martinsville, which was scored under green with a penalty that dropped him to 19th place. The reigning NASCAR champion now has more finishes outside the top 15 (five) than inside the top 10 (three) as his title defense feels a bit shaky.
Oops!
Not a good look for Ty Gibbs to have a semi-permanent ban for this category. A wild NASCAR Xfinity Series race ended with Gibbs losing the lead and then being sidestepped by Sam Mayer as Brandon Jones worked his way onto winning ways.
In a flash, $100,000 changed hands, a NASCAR Xfinity select driver bonus that went to AJ Allemendinger, not Gibbs, due to the contact. Gibbs’ frustration led to words, then punches with Mayer in the pit lane.
“I had my sights set on the $100,000 and wanted to do what I had to do to try and get it,” Mayer said. “Yeah, I put the bumper on him… it was just a clean run and run in my opinion.
Gibbs saw it differently.
“I tried to talk to him and he jumped in my face,” Gibbs replied. “At that point you have to start struggling … I just ended up getting run into the fence.”
My opinion? While no one left Martinsville looking good, Gibbs established a pattern of immature behavior similar to Noah Gragson’s last year. If there’s a silver lining, Gragson has learned from it and grown up, still aggressive but with a win, five top-five finishes and a better track reputation in the first eight races of the season.
Can Ty follow suit? What will grandfather and car owner Joe Gibbs do?