Rack ‘Em Up
The NASCAR Xfinity Series had its penultimate race at the paperclip in Martinsville, Va. A surprising qualifying round saw Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo on the front row for the National Debt Relief 250. With drivers trying to make the final round in the Playoffs, to say that tempers flared is an understatement. The Playoff drivers danced around the non-playoff drivers as they fought for their seats at Phoenix. The stage lengths were 60 laps for the first and second stages, with 120 laps for the final stage.
Aggression
They both got off of the line well but Retzlaff snagged the lead out of turn two. Jockeying for position very early on, drivers were fighting for the preferred line at the bottom. Aric Almirola broke into the top five after passing Jesse Love. The first caution came out on lap 12 when AJ Allmendinger cut a tire and hit the wall. He was dueling with Cole Custer for position. Custer crossed the right front and cut the tire on Allmendinger’s car.
Chandler Smith and Retzlaff restarted on the front row. Smith had a great launch and took the lead. Alfredo dropped a bunch after the restart, getting shuffled on the outside and a train of cars took advantage. He fell to ninth before settling into the bottom. The second caution came out when Myatt Snider got turned around and hit the wall. However, he had some help from Ryan Sieg. Cole Custer and Sam Mayer stayed out of the pits during the caution.
Retzlaff and Custer restarted the race on the front row. Custer got a great launch and took the lead. Shane Van Gisbergen used pit strategy to get into the top three. Custer scampered away from the car in his rearview. Leland Honeyman, Jr. brought out the third caution after he got turned by the No. 29 of Blaine Perkins.
Aggression (Continued…)
Once again, Custer and Retzlaff restarted on the front row. And, once again, Custer got a great restart but the fourth caution came out when Sam Mayer drove through the back of Retzlaff through the restart and into the turn one wall. Mayer did have some help from Josh Williams but he absolutely drove through Retzlaff.
That set up a one-lap shootout. Custer and Almirola restarted the race on the front row. Custer had a great launch but Almirola did not give up and won the stage by an inch! A photo finish for the top prize in the stage. Almirola got the nod and his fifth stage win of the season.
Calm Before the Storm
Custer was frustrated at how stage one ended and had to restart the second stage in the back of the pack. Almirola and Smith restarted the race on the front row. While Almirola had a good enough restart to keep the lead, Smith bumped Almirola to move him out of the way and took back the lead. Almirola tried to take the lead back but did not have enough.
Riley Herbst and Jesse Love battled hard with Love taking the loss. Love moved Herbst up the track but Herbst quickly responded as he moved Love up the track and made the pass back. Almirola got back by Smith for the lead. The sixth caution came out when Mason Maggio got turned around right in front of Almirola. Preston Pardus is the bumper that Maggio spun off of.
R. Sieg and Snider, after not pitting, restarted the race on the front row. Brendon Poole and Garrett Smithley were in the second row and they also did not pit.
R. Sieg got a good restart and took the lead. Almirola, on new tires, got by Poole for second and set his sights on the leader. He got underneath and passed R. Sieg with three to go in the stage. R. Sieg did not lay over though, Sheldon Creed caught them in third. Almirola pulled away and won the second stage!
More Aggression
Almirola and Creed restarted the race, with Almirola snatching back his lead. Creed settled into second. William Sawalich got turned into the wall from 10th place. That brought the eighth caution on the day. He locked his tires up and Alfredo got into his rear bumper shoving him up the track.
Almirola and Creed brought us back to the green flag. They both had good restarts as they drove side by side through the first lap. Creed took the lead into turn one on the second lap. Custer and Smith drove aggressively and got into the top five. Custer took the third spot from Justin Allgaier. Allgaier was not happy with the way Custer drove by him. Then, Bubba Pollard said over the radio that he had a voltage issue. He pulled his car onto pit road.
Almirola caught Creed and fought for the lead. He eventually got inside of Creed and took the lead but Creed did not make it easy. Creed made a mistake that allowed Custer to catch up and pressure for the spot. Pardus brought out the ninth caution. Kyle Sieg may have slipped up the track into Pardus, spinning him around into the wall.
Last Set of Goodyears
With the sun setting, Custer and Almirola restarted the race with 68 laps left. Creed had to go to the rear after speeding on pit road. Herbst, in fourth, got a bad restart. Almirola scampered away into the lead. Caution number 10 came out when Love shoved Dawson Cram around.
Again, Almirola and Custer restarted out front. Almirola got the better restart and retook the lead. Herbst forced his way to the bottom of the track but got loose which allowed Jeb Burton to move into fifth.
With Herbst stuck on the outside, he lost several spots. The 11th caution came out when
Perkins, Williams, and Creed went three wide and Williams spun out. Over-aggression from Creed proved to be a bad decision. Williams showed his displeasure with Creed.
Almirola and Creed restarted, again, on the front row with 48 laps left. Almirola shot out in front for the lead. Smith passed Allgaier for third, then he caught Custer for the second spot.
Custer, racing to get into the championship, did not lay over. Allgaier caught back up with Smith who bumped Custer out of the way and took second place.
The 12th caution was brought out when Brandon Jones went spinning around with 30 to go. Creed was the culprit as he shoved Jones straight into the turn.
Laps Winding Down
Almirola and Smith brought us back to green with 24 laps left. With the green flag waving, Mayer ran straight into his teammate, Allgaier. Custer shoved Smith into turn one but could not make the pass. Almirola retook the lead but before he could pull away, the lucky 13th caution came out when R. Sieg spun out.
Sammy Smith and Almirola took the race back to green. S. Smith got a bad restart and Almirola shot out into the lead. However, S. Smith was able to stay in second and the top two cars pulled away from the field.
S. Smith made a small amount of time up each lap, but Almirola was too fast for S. Smith to catch up and got the win in the National Debt Relief 250!
Marvin’s Moment
As I said, tempers were flaring. With the action at Martinsville so close and tight, you have no choice but to use your bumpers to move cars around. With that being said, Chandler Smith closed-fist slapped Custer after the race. He was upset with the way Custer raced him. Smith had to win to advance and was unable to.
With no ride for next season, as of now, Smith expected to be raced more easily. I don’t know what he wants. Custer is also racing for a Playoff spot. Smith needs to realize that other people are on the track. Custer did not do anything wrong, Smith just took offense to Custer also trying to make the next round.
Another thing I did not enjoy was the wreckfest. Martinsville is a great race track that can produce great racing and finishes. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race was so much worse than the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The trucks put on a great race, but the Xfinity race was so bad with over-aggression and no patience. The drivers need to do better. I will get off my soapbox now.
Phoenix for the championship next week!
