{"id":32153,"date":"2025-03-29T23:23:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T03:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32153"},"modified":"2025-03-31T00:36:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T04:36:41","slug":"austin-hill-wins-xfinity-series-race-at-martinsville-that-leaves-ugly-stain-on-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/29\/austin-hill-wins-xfinity-series-race-at-martinsville-that-leaves-ugly-stain-on-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Hill Wins Xfinity Series Race at Martinsville That Leaves Ugly Stain on Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m all for letting the boys have at it, but some of the things that NASCAR lets happen are overboard. Not to mention, they are letting some drivers turn the great sport into a demolition derby. That was the story of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/28\/nascar-xfinity-series-martinsville-speedway-preview\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Marine Corps 250<\/a> at Martinsville. I get it, cautions are going to happen, but when a race is supposed to be 250 laps, and over 100 of those laps are under yellow, there is a problem. Austin Hill was the lucky guy once again. But his win is going to be overshadowed by ugliness all around the race track.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t take much skill to cause incidents. And that sure seems to be all that racing has become across all of NASCAR. Is wrecking everyone racing? I think not, it&#8217;s a joke if you ask me.<\/p>\n<h2>Austin Hill Wins Xfinity Series Race at Martinsville That Leaves Ugly Stain on Sport<\/h2>\n<p>The race&#8217;s first 54 laps went caution-free as polesitter Connor Zilisch led the whole way and was able to win the opening stage without much pressure from those behind him. Lap traffic was the only hurdle at that point. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/09\/hendrick-motorsports-ensures-future-signs-19-year-old-corey-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Corey Day<\/a> was making his Xfinity Series debut for Hendrick Motorsports, and while he was fighting for a Top 10 spot in the closing laps of the opening stage, he and Harrison Burton got together and hit the wall.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We got trouble in Turn 1! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yL5v39G7R0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yL5v39G7R0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906097642385309785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The incident and the mistake by the 19-year-old ended his chances. Though he continued, he was completely out of the picture. That incident was just the start of the chaos in this race. Not to mention, it wasn&#8217;t the worst of Harrison Burton&#8217;s incidents of the race.<\/p>\n<h3>Rookies Make Noise Both Good and Bad<\/h3>\n<p>It certainly appeared to be a good day to be one of the many rookie drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as the bright young stars were delivering all over the race track. Zilisch continued to show he&#8217;s got all the tools. He fought at the front of the race as the second stage got going, despite losing the lead on pit road following the end of stage one as Joe Gibbs Racing&#8217;s Brandon Jones put his No. 20 Toyota out front.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The leaders make contact! <\/p>\n<p>There&#39;s damage on the Nos. 20 and 88. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G9baRDQTzd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/G9baRDQTzd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906103376191877186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>His lead didn&#8217;t last for long, as Jones and Zilisch made significant contact with each other after the lap car of Garrett Smithley lost control and spun right in front of the leaders coming onto the frontstretch. The damage forced Jones to the pitlane while Zilisch continued in the lead for the next restart.<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of three-wide action would continue to highlight the second stage, and other top rookie contenders like Taylor Gray and Carson Kvapil were starting to get closer to Zilisch because of the damage on the front right corner of his car. Despite the damage, Zilisch was able to cruise to the stage two win.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A little damage is no problem!<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ConnorZilisch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ConnorZilisch<\/a> wins Stage 2! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Mmq4smF2pX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Mmq4smF2pX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906106962338541570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>JGR vs. JRM<\/h3>\n<p>As the final stage started, it was starting to become clear that this race was going to play out between either Joe Gibbs Racing or JR Motorsports. Whether it be Zilisch, Gray, Justin Allgaier, or even Aric Almirola who won both Martinsville races in 2024. Gray certainly looked like he had a real shot to get his first career win, especially with having the first pit box off of the pitlane.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here comes the No. 54!<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Taylor_Gray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Taylor_Gray<\/a> leads at <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MartinsvilleSwy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MartinsvilleSwy<\/a>! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fPTuOHxDSX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fPTuOHxDSX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906109942873899420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That helped him gain control of the lead. It was by that time that cautions began to breed cautions. You know how I said Harrison Burton had a rough day. Things got even tougher during the final stage as he and the No. 70 car of Thomas Annuziata made contact that left Burton&#8217;s front splitter ripped off the bottom of his car and hanging off the front of it. It was a very bizarre moment for the No. 25 team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">uhhhhhhhhhh <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FrtdGdZE17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FrtdGdZE17<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906110323649577350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With all these incidents starting to happen, laps continued to chip away, and that started forcing drivers to make some unwise choices, especially on restarts. While the 54 of Gray continued to hold serve at the front, Connor Zilisch was going in the wrong direction, as other drivers started using him up. That seemed to be the theme, though, as this race got closer to the end.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Now <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ConnorZilisch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ConnorZilisch<\/a> goes around! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pYoVtmy5Bz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/pYoVtmy5Bz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906115403513823620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In NASCAR, there should be give and take. But this race was nothing but take by the end of the night.<\/p>\n<h3>Race Turns into Demo Derby<\/h3>\n<p>On lap 232 of the scheduled 250 laps, by far the biggest wreck of the weekend to this point happened, as Kaulig Racing saw a lot of money wasted. All three of their drivers had been running well most of the day. But trouble befell Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, and Christian Eckes as all three were caught up in a big wreck on he backstretch.<\/p>\n<p>Hard licks for Eckes and the No. 48 of Nick Sanchez ended the day for both. Their cars were destroyed after significant contact with the inside wall.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There&#39;s more trouble!<\/p>\n<p>This time, it&#39;s on the backstretch. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lJZsYe3SYN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/lJZsYe3SYN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906125683836821556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After a brief red flag to clear up the incident, the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville hit the point of green for a lap or two and then caution for at least the final 30 or so laps. It was quickly becoming embarrassing that these guys couldn&#8217;t keep it together for more than five laps. After restart after restart, it looked like it was going to come down to Sammy Smith or Taylor Gray.<\/p>\n<p>That is, until the race got sent to overtime. A tough and physical battle between the No. 8 and 54 saw Smith bump his way past Gray right before the last yellow flag flew to send this race to overtime.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A replay of the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAROvertime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAROvertime<\/a> finish at <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MartinsvilleSwy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MartinsvilleSwy<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fGJecynkQT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fGJecynkQT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906133967159406739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It was on the final restart that Gray wasn&#8217;t going to let Smith get away with the bump. He fired back on the restart and gave the chrome horn back. As the field took the white flag and got back to the final corners, Smith sent Gray around, much like Austin Dillon did last year at Richmond to Joey Logano. While all that was happening, others got together, and Austin Hill, the luckiest driver in the series, cashed out once again.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The big 1\u20e30\u20e30\u20e3!<\/p>\n<p>With this win, <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RCRracing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RCRracing<\/a> earned its 100th <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/XfinitySeries?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#XfinitySeries<\/a> victory. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WHeXN60xA1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WHeXN60xA1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906140194568335443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>What a move by Hill to not only score his 12th career Xfinity Series win but also the 100th in the series for team owner Richard Childress.<\/p>\n<h3>Reaction to Finish<\/h3>\n<p>A lot of drivers had some hurt feelings following this one. And they should know this race was a joke. I&#8217;m not taking away the credit from Austin Hill taking advantage of the situation because he&#8217;s good at that. But what some of the drivers were doing at Martinsville Speedway is so uncalled for; it&#8217;s not even funny.<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of drivers had reactions to what went down on the final restart. First, Taylor Gray was upset about how he got taken out of a great chance at winning at Martinsville for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Taylor_Gray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Taylor_Gray<\/a> on the final laps at <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MartinsvilleSwy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MartinsvilleSwy<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wSRSnpjmwL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/wSRSnpjmwL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Xfinity\/status\/1906135364454019428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>If that wasn&#8217;t enough, The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/author\/jordan-bianchi\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Athletic&#8217;s Jordan Bianchi<\/a> caught Gray confronting Smith outside the infield care center.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sammy Smith and Taylor Gray had a confrontation outside the infield care center. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ScNfc6UKoB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ScNfc6UKoB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jordan_Bianchi\/status\/1906135005623210050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When later asked by the CW&#8217;s Kim Coon, Smith claimed Taylor would have done the same thing to him. An awful lot of finger-pointing. There sure wasn&#8217;t much accountability on anyone&#8217;s part.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sammy Smith \u2018not proud\u2019 of contact with Taylor Gray | NASCAR\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fzMSU-eX2vU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8221; I&#8217;m not proud of it, but he would&#8217;ve done the same to me,&#8221; Smith said. &#8221; He&#8217;s got no respect for me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>NASCAR is just fine with this free-for-all wreckfest. But Martinsville Speedway doesn&#8217;t deserve to see all this nonsense. This track is historic, and it should be raced with far more respect than what these guys are doing out there. As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jeff_gluck\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Gluck so nicely pointed out on X<\/a>, the Xfinity Series track record at Martinsville for cautions was 19 in 2006. That&#8217;s what stopped the series from racing at the &#8216;paperclip&#8217; for 14 years.<\/p>\n<p>This race was distasteful, in my opinion, and NASCAR has to change something about this garbage.<\/p>\n<p>Featured Image Credit: Logan Riely, Getty Images. 3\/29\/2025<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m all for letting the boys have at it, but some of the things that NASCAR lets happen are overboard. Not to mention, they are letting some drivers turn the great sport into a demolition derby. That was the story of the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville. I get it, cautions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5169,"featured_media":32158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,1665],"tags":[1150,2333,333,127,859,14,142,1945,2345],"class_list":["post-32153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nascar","category-nascar-xfinity-series","tag-austin-hill","tag-connor-zilisch","tag-joe-gibbs-racing","tag-jr-motorsports","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-richard-childress-racing","tag-sammy-smith","tag-taylor-gray"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32153"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32160,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32153\/revisions\/32160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}