The Martinsville issues raise questions of integrity

REQUIRED: Integrity. Respect. Moral. Sportiness.

NASCAR brass should post this on their social media channels, or maybe LinkedIn, because all of that is insufficient.

The entire weekend at Martinsville was overshadowed by drivers, teams and manufacturers that showed little or no respect for any of these attributes. In a weekend that should be a celebration of intense competition, hard racing and drivers taking the next step to challenge for a title at Phoenix, the sport is instead once again shrouded in controversy and questions.

Let’s back up for a second to highlight the positives to come from Martinsville. Sunday’s Xfinity 500 was the best short track race in the Gen 7 Cup era at the half-mile track in Virginia. Goodyear’s commitment to producing the softest tire the manufacturer had ever brought to a NASCAR weekend seemed to pay dividends. It may not have been a complete overhaul like the one that broke out at Bristol earlier this year, but the softer tire option brought a variable into the equation.

Not only did the tires challenge crew chiefs and teams on strategy, but it also helped the product on the track. The cars were closer together than in recent outings at Martinsville, and there were indeed sought-after “comers and visitors” that mixed up the running order dynamics.

It’s been an encouraging direction in trying to strengthen the short race package in the Cup and it will be interesting to see if Goodyear decides to go even further in 2025. The intense competition also ties into the effort put in by race winner Ryan Blaney, who with the proverbial his back to the wall, won Martinsville for the second year in a row to catapult him into Championship 4.

Blaney was involved in some spirited battles for position with several drivers and had to find his way back to the front when he was shuffled back on a very short restart, finishing only second after the green flew due to the loss a wheel by Kyle Busch. Because the restart was deemed good, NASCAR won the score on the next loop past the start-stop line, and Blaney lost several positions instead. To make up ground despite having a long-lasting car far superior to its competitors,
Blaney admitted it was a little more physical than he would have liked.

“I’ll be honest with you, this is the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time,” Blaney said afterward. “God, I was tired. I still am. It’s the most tired I’ve had. Sure, I don’t know, I stayed with it all night. Yes, it’s good when things go that way.

“I put the bumper on more guys than I would have liked tonight. I really don’t do that. This is not my MO. I had to do it at times. I don’t think anything was super blatant. I wasn’t going to put the bumper on 9, especially for the leader. It was nice to be able to race without contact there.”

But once Blaney took the checkered flag, there was still plenty to unpack from Martinsville.

It took more than 20 minutes for NASCAR to determine that Christopher Bell’s move to hug the wall through turns three and four was out of bounds and penalize the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. NASCAR outlawed Ross Chastain’s famous “Hail Melon” move in 2022, citing safety as the primary reason, and it’s hard to argue that at least the second half of Bell’s outing checked that box.

The penalty knocked Bell out of a Championship 4 berth, benefiting William Byron, who thought he had missed Phoenix’s opportunity with a tiebreaker. However, Byron was also embroiled in controversy, which brings us back to the conversation about integrity, respect, morality and sportsmanship.

As Byron tried to get his worn tires to the finish line, he was ahead of Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, who seemed locked into their positions and were not trying to get around the No. 24. This behavior appears to be substantiated by radio communication that was discovered between the Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing teams instructing the drivers to let fellow Chevrolet driver Byron keep his seat and transfer to the Championship 4.

Oh, and for good measure, Toyota got into the game with Bubba Wallace after he was told where Bell was on the track and where he needed to move forward, suddenly pulling onto the track with “one tire down.”

The illegal activity caused NASCAR to dive into details to determine if indeed manipulation was taking place. While the actions may not have been as nefarious as the Michael Waltrip Racing scandal at Richmond in 2023, they are in close proximity to Stewart-Haas Racing’s nefarious orchestration of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series race at The ROVAL, which resulted in sanctions, including a suspension for Cole Custer’s crew chief, Mike Shiplett. Needless to say, it’s another bad look for the sport at the worst time of the season.

Some were quick to blame the Playoff format and system for the gimmick. It’s a huge police outing. Blaming the system or even “society” as someone pointed out on social media for individual or team actions is weak. The same goes for some drivers and their tired “did what I had to do” excuse and why they had to “slam” someone into the wall, as was said ad nauseam over the Martinsville weekend.

Everyone is responsible for their own actions, but it’s easier to blame others. If NASCAR finds enough evidence to punish RCR, Trackhouse, 23XI, Chevrolet or Toyota, then that hammer of justice should strike hard. Suspensions, fines, removal of wind tunnel time — heck, race parking — whatever should be on the table to ensure the integrity and credibility of the sport is maintained.

Sometimes the garage is its own worst enemy. This is one of those times and there is a price to be paid.