"It wasn’t really a racing move" - NASCAR Xfinity chief backs $25,000 fine for Kelley Earnhardt’s driver

NASCAR penalized Sammy Smith with a $25,000 fine and docked 50 points for his bump on race leader Taylor Gray, which caused a multi-car wreck during the US Marine Corps 250 last week. The finish of the race has drawn widespread criticism, with NASCAR Xfinity Series Managing Director Eric Peterson recently voicing his concerns about the racing on display.

Sammy Smith drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller's JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. As Smith and Gray headed into the final corner at Martinsville side-by-side, the #8 Chevrolet driver executed a 'bump-and-run' on Gray to take the lead. This led to a multi-car collision as they were followed closely by a pack of cars with no room to maneuver on the short track. Austin Hill took advantage of the wreck to win from sixth position, driving in the low line in an overtime finish.

The chaotic ending cost Gray a potential win as fans and racers alike called for strict action against such reckless driving. NASCAR announced a $25k penalty for Sammy Smith and also docked 50 championship points from the 20-year-old JR Motorsports driver. Xfinity Series Director Peterson backed the decision and explained Smith's actions necessitated the penalty. He said via NASCAR.com:

"We want to see really hard racing and door-to-door racing, and contact is certainly a part of the sport and part of the sport at Martinsville Speedway. (However,) we felt like after looking at all the facts, all the video, the team audio, SMT data and all the tools, we have to work with and review an incident like that."

He added:

"Unfortunately, what Sammy did was over the line and something that we feel like we had to react to. We would prefer to leave it in the driver’s hands but in this case, it wasn’t really a racing move and we reacted to it as such."

The penalty drops Smith seven positions to 13th on the table with 165 points. In addition to the JR Motorsports racer, NASCAR also fined Jeb Burton and Taylor Gray $5,000 each for their behavior after the race. Burton confronted McAnally-Hilgemann Racing #10 Daniel Dye in the in-field care center while Gray was seen charging toward Smith in the pit road.

"A multitude of bad decisions" - NASCAR Vice President weighs in on the Xfinity race at Martinsville

NASCAR competition Vice President, Elton Sawyer, has recently expressed his feelings on the debate around the Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway. While appreciative of Sammy Smith's talents, he explained why the decision to penalize him and other racers was necessary.

Talking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Sawyer said:

"Every generation of drivers they come through, they have to learn how to race at a national series level. I think Sammy is a prime example of a young man that's got a great deal of talent. Obviously, made some mistakes at the end of that race that he's going to have to learn from. We have to step in and help him with that process, and that's exactly what we did. There was a multitude of bad decisions that was made by a multitude of drivers throughout that event."

The race at Martinsville on Saturday, March 29, saw 14 cautions and a record 102 caution laps, which ended in overtime. Eight cars piled up against one another as they crossed the finish line, with Smith finishing tenth, Burton 11th, and Gray 29th. Sawyer also added that he will address the concerns borne out of the race with the drivers in the garage ahead of the next Xfinity Series race at Darlington.