Taylor Gray, Sammy Smith exchange words after on-track kerfuffle in closing laps
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. – That makes two. Two consecutive visits to Martinsville Speedway for Taylor Gray and two straight purposeful post-race walks on pit road for the 20-year-old driver to confront a rival.
A percolating tempest of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday evening turned into a battle of wills between Gray and Sammy Smith, both in the final two-lap dash to the end and after the checkered flag had flown. Smith rammed his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet into the rear of Gray's No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entering the final set of corners to conclude overtime, repaying a slight bump-and-run for the lead a lap earlier.
The final dust-up allowed Austin Hill to scoot by the fray from fifth to first on the final lap, notching his second win of the season and collecting a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash payday in the process. It also denied Gray a bid for his first Xfinity Series victory after a strong second half to Saturday's US Marines Corps 250 and sparked a lively discussion between the two outside of the infield care center.
The two were separated before the altercation escalated into a physical fracas, but Gray remained heated before leaving the track.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Martinsville
"So like the whole interaction in Turn 1, where initially he moved me up the race track and he got the lead from me, and then I did the same thing to him. Think that's fair, right?" said Gray, who led a career-best 87 laps. "We know we're coming down to the end of the race. I was a little upset when he first hit me, just because I felt like I haven't put a scratch on him all year. He could have raced me a little bit better. But then again, it's Martinsville. I have to understand that that's going to happen. But what he did getting into (turn) three, I mean, it completely takes no talent. All you've got to do is just let off the brake pedal and just clearly destroy me. So I don't know. It ruins his race, too."
Gray – in his first full Xfinity Series season -- was credited with a 29th-place result after his looping spin into Turns 3 and 4. Smith, who collected JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and a host of other cars in the home stretch, placed 10th after pinballing across the stripe.
Smith's view of the on-track confrontation was stoked by a handful of agitating events that led up to it, including a series of hand gestures he said Gray delivered during a Lap 232 stoppage. His decision to plow into the No. 54's back bumper was also fueled by an almost pre-emptive application of Hammurabi's Code, saying that Gray would have acted in kind, had the scenario been reversed.
"I mean, it's unfortunate. You know, I'm not very proud of that, what I did," Smith said. "It's just, he just has no respect for me, and he was flipping me off under the red flag, swerving at my door. I moved him into (turn) one, then he still had the lead those two restarts, and going on the back straightaway, I thought to myself, what would he do in this situation, and he would have done the exact same thing. So he's flipping me off, and that right there was the line for me to ultimately make the decision I made."
Smith indicated that his issues with Gray are long-running grievances, dating back through years of racing together. He indicated that their brief conversation was not constructive.
"He said he wants to go at it," said Smith. "I mean, we can go at it if he wants, but I think, yeah, at the end of the day, it's probably gonna be a lot more going forward, and that's OK with me."
Gray was on the short end of a late-race bump-up here last November, taking the brunt of a contest for the lead with Christian Eckes in the next-to-last race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Gray marched down Martinsville's pit road to wag his finger at Eckes to express his post-race disapproval.
Saturday night in the Xfinity Series, the scene was reprised.
"Man, I don't know what I've done to this place," Gray said. "I've had fast cars. I mean, this is the most dominant car I've ever had here, able to lead as many laps as I did tonight here. But yeah, this place doesn't seem to like me."