NASCAR at Martinsville Xfinity results and takeaways: Brandon Jones wins, fight breaks out

NASCAR’s overtime race Xfinity Series race at Martinsville delivered a plethora of cautions and drama as a post-race fight ensued between drivers Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer.

Brandon Jones raced to his first win of the season (fifth win in the series) trailed by Landon Cassill and A.J. Allmendinger. The bumper-banging racing was perhaps destined to end in swings as intensity escalated in the final laps.

Here’s how it all went down.

Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer tangle in pit road fist fight

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs led 198 laps of the 261-lap race, which finished in overtime after a massive pileup and red flag at the Southern Virginia half-mile short track. Gibbs and Mayer exchanged bumps on the track and then, after the checkered flag, exchanged blows as shoves escalated to full-on swings.

This was set off in the final laps of the race as Gibbs and Mayer made contact coming to the last lap. Mayer moved three-wide and bumped the inside of Gibbs’ car rounding Turn 4. Gibbs, who had fallen from the race lead with Jones in front of the pack, retaliated with a move on Mayer’s bumper.

After they parked, Gibbs approached Mayer with his helmet on, shoving Mayer as he removed his helmet. Mayer then followed Gibbs, speaking closely to his face, and Gibbs threw multiple punches.

“I tried to talk to him, then he got all in my face, so you know, at that point, we gotta start fighting,” Gibbs said on FS1.

The two were tackled to the ground by crew members and officials attempting to intervene. They separated the young drivers who evidently have a “history” of drama from racing each other in the ARCA Series, a team radio mentioned during the race.

Gibbs was already expected to be called to NASCAR’s hauler post-race for not slowing down enough during the caution laps while in the lead around lap 40. NASCAR official Wayne Auton said that Gibbs and Mayer met in NASCAR’s hauler post-race for about 10 minutes and shook hands before leaving, according to The Athletic.

“Put the bumper to him because that’s what short track racing’s all about,” Mayer told FOX after the race, spotted with a cut over his left eye. “He got all upset, and ‘short track racing,’ all that nonsense, so whatever. He threw a couple punches. They were weak, so I can’t say much about that. It’s kind of funny.”

Another NASCAR official was spotted receiving medical attention after the fight ensued, and was taken to the care center. That official was released, but NASCAR has not released further details about the extent of the official’s injuries.

Brandon Jones snags first win of the season

After a 15-car pileup on the frontstretch at the end of the race, Jones looked like he would be in position to move Gibbs, his teammate, racing for the win. His crew chief Jeff Meendering said that’s what he would do.

“Just wreck him,” he said on FS1 while the race was under the red flag.

Jones didn’t need to as he passed Gibbs in the final laps without much contact. He said after the race that there was “no way” that he would wreck Gibbs.

“I can’t really live with myself wrecking a teammate I don’t think for a win,” Jones said. “But definitely moving him, definitely trying to give him all he’s got for a run for his money. He didn’t really rough us up, but he definitely held us tight on a restart.”

“I’m happy with the way it ended and the way it finished and the events leading to it,” Jones said.

He noted that he thought it was a relatively mild end to the race, at least for him, and at least in the overtime laps. The 17 cautions, a late caution for what looked like “The Big One” and the post-race fight might have indicated otherwise. But Jones walked away pleased with the finish.

Dale Jr. scores 11th place finish in front of loyal fans

Jones said that Dale Earnhardt Jr. congratulated him after the race.

Jr. was competing in his annual one-off Xfinity event for his JR Motorsports team and earned a decent 11th place finish, given the late race chaos. That finishing position was slightly better than his 14th place finish last year at Richmond.

Jr. caught a break as he skirted the the pileup after bringing out the caution before it and gained positions before the restart. That was after getting involved in another incident with driver Josh Berry.

“I got to get all I can out of one race. He gets to run every week,” Jr. told FOX Sports when asked about the contact with Berry.

Regardless of how he raced or where he finished, the crowd probably would have showed up in support of the popular former full-time Cup driver and NASCAR media personality. The stands looked fairly filled for the lower-division series, which multiple people deemed “the Dale Jr. effect.”

“I’ll take 11,” he said. “Our car was terribly tight. And we worked on it, took a lot of wedge out and made a lot of air pressure adjustments. Finally got it running pretty good there, but I needed the green flag run.”

Jr. hasn’t stated plans for his next race, but the annual event has become a tradition and he’s stated his preference for short tracks like Richmond and Martinsville.

NASCAR Xfinity Results at Martinsville

This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 6:58 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription