@nascarcasm: The many kinds of Martinsville conflicts
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Short tracks are a breeding ground for tempers. And when tempers boil over, the conflict between drivers is sure to happen. But there's something different about Martinsville Speedway. It's not just the frequency of driver beef that occurs here, but rather the variety. It's not always a fight. It manifests in many different ways. See below.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
SARCASTIC CLAPPING: Last year's then-RCR-teammate skirmish between Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed was memorable not only because it cost both a spot in the Xfinity Series Championship 4, but also because of the post-race reactions. There were no punches thrown. There wasn't even a face-to-face confrontation between the two. However, while walking past Creed's pit box, Hill did manage to deliver an absolutely brutal salvo of sarcastic clapping. This is a low-level conflict, although the mental toll on the recipient of the sacrastic clapping can be severe and long-lasting.
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THE BIRD: Faithful and always there to deliver a message, just like the one Brad Keselowski threw at Kurt Busch in 2014. It's a bit different at Martinsville, however. At a half-mile, Martinsville's straightaways are very short, so the amount of time you have to deliver a solid, noticeable bird to those who wronged you is small. You come off the corner, fire that puppy out the window for only a couple seconds before you need that hand to turn the wheel into the next corner. The driver has to be really quick about it. Ninja-like reflexes. Tactical strike. Not easy.
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THE FACE-TO-FACE: A good example is what happened with Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin in 2017. After being spun from the lead, Denny and Chase had a heated give-and-take right there on the track. It never got physical, but the anger was visible and to be honest, lip-reading these things is super fun. A conflict doesn't need pugilism to be enjoyable. From body language alone, you could tell that Elliott was inconsolable, and Hamlin's grasp on the Most Popular Driver award had begun to slip a little.
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THE SPIN-AND-SHOUT: Greg Biffle executed this technique on Jimmie Johnson in 2013. While he that done you wrong is being interviewed, you walk up, grab him by the shoulder, spin them around and immediately start screaming at him. Your target has no time to formulate a response, let alone regain their balance. Extra points for doing it during a TV interview so we can capture awesome screen shots like the one on the left.
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THE FAUX HAYMAKER: When Carl Edwards interrupted Matt Kenseth's post-race interview in 2007, it was clear that some form of beef was going down. Carl, usually calm and professional on camera, was decked out in a black hat, black shirt and camoflauge cargo shorts -- a uniform that screams "LET'S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE, BRUH." In full view of the camera, Carl threw a fake punch at Kenseth, who totally bit on it. Here, you're not trying to inflict harm on your opponent, but rather embarrassment. Just once, Carl Edwards -- a driver who takes his sunglasses off before every interview -- instead brought enough HA-MADE-YOU-FLINCH bro energy to power a small village.
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Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images
LITERALLY CRASHING THE VICTORY CELEBRATION: What better way to express your disgust with the winning driver than interrupting his victory burnout on the frontstretch? Denny Hamlin did this to Alex Bowman in 2021, after Bowman did the ol' bump-and-run for the win on Hamlin. It's a gutsy move. It's showing up at a party to which you are not invited. As you can tell by the full hard seltzer bouncing off Denny's hood, it didn't go over that well with the general populace. But it was indeed brave.
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THE HAMMER THROW: Yes, the hammer throw is an Olympic event. But it's also something a pit crew can do if they're really mad at another driver. Take 2013 when a battle on track between Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon led to bent fenders, hurt feelings and one of Ty's crew members hurling a perfectly good sledgehammer at Harvick's truck. NASCAR is the only competition where you'll see hammers used as a weapon except for maybe "Donkey Kong."
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
THE CLASSIC FRACAS: The good, old fashioned, stand-up boilerpate brawl between two drivers. A good recent example is Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer in 2022. We'd prefer both took their helmets off but then again, if you see that your opponent has already taken theirs off, why would you? It's an advantage. Fight smarter, not harder. I can think of another blond-haired superstar who some said fought dirty also: RIC FLAIR.
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Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images
THE MANIACAL MULTI-PART MELEE: This is as good as it gets. It's a wild brawl with many different aspects and highlights. Different chapters of a thrilling book. Take the Joey Logano/Denny Hamlin fight in 2019. A heated pit-road discussion led to Logano smacking Hamlin's shoulder, which led to Hamlin going after Logano, which led to a horsecollar tackle on Hamlin and then a bunch of pushing and shoving. A bar room brawl but on pit road. This thing had more stages than the Coca-Cola 600.