DARLINGTON, S.C. — Darlington Raceway and Goodyear announce a partnership on the entitlement of the spring NASCAR Cup Series race as part of the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR on May 9. The official name of the race will be the Goodyear 400.
“Goodyear is one of the most iconic brands in the history of motorsports, so we are proud to welcome them back to Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400,” said Darlington President Kerry Tharp. “Goodyear has been a part of many monumental moments in Darlington Raceway’s storied history. We look forward to writing a new chapter with Goodyear as part of the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR.”
Goodyear has a rich history at Darlington Raceway as it conducted its first official NASCAR tire tests at the track in 1954 and earned its first NASCAR victory in the 1959 Southern 500 with driver Jim Reed.
In support of the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR, Goodyear will once again replace the yellow “Eagle” logo on the sidewalls of its racing tires with a vintage “Blue Streak” sidewall design. In keeping with the race weekend’s throwback theme, the Blue Streak tires will include white Goodyear lettering and a white logo that reflect the design of NASCAR tires used in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Blue Streaks were phased out in 1981 as Goodyear’s racing tires moved to the “Eagle” design.
“Goodyear is honored to be a part of the Official Throwback Weekend, a tradition that drivers and fans look forward to each year,” said Karen Maroli, Goodyear’s vice president of marketing. “Goodyear and NASCAR have a shared legacy that spans six decades and multiple generations, and the throwback nature of the Goodyear 400 allows us to celebrate the accomplishments of the past while also showcasing the incredible talents of drivers today.”
The Goodyear 400 is a continuation of Goodyear’s longstanding relationship with the sport of racing. As the “Exclusive Tire Supplier” for NASCAR’s top three series, Goodyear is the longest-running continuous partner in NASCAR history. From the introduction of the racing slick in 1972 to the radial tire in 1989 and multi-zone tread design in 2013, Goodyear and NASCAR have consistently innovated to deliver compelling racing.
Goodyear produces more than 100,000 tires for NASCAR’s top three series every year, and each tire is custom-built by the hands of passionate Goodyear associates in Akron, Ohio – Goodyear’s global headquarters – and donned with the name of the employee who helped produce it.
The Goodyear 400 will be broadcast on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Sunday, May 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR moves to a new dedicated spring weekend as The Lady in Black unites generations of race fans to celebrate on Mother’s Day as part of the new spring weekend of action-packed racing featuring all three premier series on May 7-9. Darlington will host the LiftKits4Less.com 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Triple Truck Challenge race on Friday night, May 7 at 7:30 p.m., the Steakhouse Elite 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash race on Saturday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m. and the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, May 9 at 3:30 p.m.
The Tradition Continues as the famed Cook Out Southern 500 will launch the NASCAR Playoffs for the second consecutive year as part of a Labor Day weekend of racing on Sept. 4-5. The Xfinity Series will compete on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m., with the running of the Sport Clips Haircuts FVP Help A Hero 200. The Cook Out Southern 500® NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race will once again compete at night on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 6:00 p.m.
NASCAR tickets are available for purchase via phone at 866-459-7223 or online at darlingtonraceway.com. Fans can view the full 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedules and purchase tickets at nascar.com/tickets.
Martin Truex Jr. has won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Richmond Raceway.
Truex, the series’ only two-time winner this year, will start his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from the pole position. He has finished among the top three in the last four Richmond races, a span that includes a season sweep of both events there in 2019.
Ben Rhodes won the pole for Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the Camping World Truck Series. He’s set to start first in the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota.
As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.
NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs:
25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
35 percent: Team owner points ranking
15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race
See the full lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series race below.
Start pos.
Driver
Car #
Team
1
Martin Truex Jr.
19
Joe Gibbs Racing
2
Denny Hamlin
11
Joe Gibbs Racing
3
Chase Elliott
9
Hendrick Motorsports
4
William Byron
24
Hendrick Motorsports
5
Joey Logano
22
Team Penske
6
Kyle Larson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
7
Ryan Blaney
12
Team Penske
8
Christopher Bell
20
Joe Gibbs Racing
9
Kevin Harvick
4
Stewart-Haas Racing
10
Kyle Busch
18
Joe Gibbs Racing
11
Austin Dillon
3
Richard Childress Racing
12
Chris Buescher
17
Roush Fenway Racing
13
Tyler Reddick
8
Richard Childress Racing
14
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
47
JTG Daugherty Racing
15
Bubba Wallace
23
23XI Racing
16
Matt DiBenedetto
21
Wood Brothers Racing
17
Kurt Busch
1
Chip Ganassi Racing
18
Ross Chastain
42
Chip Ganassi Racing
19
Ryan Newman
6
Roush Fenway Racing
20
Brad Keselowski
2
Team Penske
21
Cole Custer
41
Stewart-Haas Racing
22
Aric Almirola
10
Stewart-Haas Racing
23
Michael McDowell
34
Front Row Motorsports
24
Alex Bowman
48
Hendrick Motorsports
25
Ryan Preece
37
JTG Daugherty Racing
26
Chase Briscoe
14
Stewart-Haas Racing
27
Daniel Suarez
99
Trackhouse Racing Team
28
James Davison
15
Rick Ware Racing
29
Anthony Alfredo
38
Front Row Motorsports
30
Erik Jones
43
Richard Petty Motorsports
31
Josh Bilicki
52
Rick Ware Racing
32
Quin Houff
00
StarCom Racing
33
Cody Ware
51
Petty Ware Racing
34
Justin Haley
77
Spire Motorsports
35
BJ McLeod
78
Live Fast Motorsports
36
Corey LaJoie
7
Spire Motorsports
37
Garrett Smithley
53
Rick Ware Racing
38
Austin Cindric
33
Team Penske
Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500 but rain canceled the qualifying races for Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt-track race. The next Cup Series event with qualifying scheduled is the May 23 debut at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas.
NASCAR officials formalized a host of penalties Tuesday from last weekend’s Cup Series and Xfinity Series races at Martinsville Speedway.
Among those penalties were fines for lug-nut violations issued to three Cup Series teams that each had a single lug unsecured after Sunday’s completion of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain 500. Those teams, which each absorbed a $10,000 fine to their respective crew chiefs, were:
• No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Kyle Larson (crew chief Cliff Daniels) • No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for driver Chase Briscoe (crew chief Johnny Klausmeier) • No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet for driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (crew chief Brian Pattie)
Officials also listed a previously announced L1-level penalty from pre-race inspection Saturday to the Trackhouse Racing No. 99 Chevrolet team for driver Daniel Suarez. The first-year organization was docked 10 points in each the driver and team owner standings for ballast found outside the approved container, a violation of Rule 20.17.2.1.b in the NASCAR Rule Book. Crew chief Travis Mack was ejected, and Suarez started at the rear for the 500-lapper.
In the Xfinity Series, officials announced a $5,000 fine for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team (driver Brandon Jones) and crew chief Jeff Meendering for a single lug nut found unsecured after Sunday’s end to the Cook Out 250.
In another previously detailed Xfinity Series penalty, the No. 23 Our Motorsports team (driver Blaine Perkins) was penalized for losing an improperly installed rear axle during the event (Section 12.5.2.7.4e). That infraction resulted in a one-race suspension for crew member Brian Graham, who was listed as a tire technician for the No. 23 team at Martinsville.
Additionally, officials have issued an indefinite suspension to Kurt Butcher for a violation of NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy. Butcher has been listed as the hauler driver for Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 team for first six Xfinity Series events this season. The behavioral penalty is listed under Sections 12.1 and 19 in the rule book.
With about 40 laps to go at Martinsville Speedway Thursday, it dawned on Eric Goodale that his night was about to get a lot more expensive.
“When I got to Justin Bonsignore’s bumper,” said Goodale, “I actually thought, ‘Oh my god, we have a car to win this race and I’m going to have to buy these guys clocks’.”
The stray expense line didn’t slow Goodale, who passed Bonsignore with 30 to go and then held off the defending tour champion and Tyler Rypkema to win the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200. It earned Goodale the coveted Grandfather Clock, historically given to the race winner at Martinsville. The win also meant the Long Island driver would have to make good on his pre-race promise, when he told his team that if he managed to win the race, they’d all get clocks, too.
“We got some new crew guys,” Goodale said. “We got real good chemistry. Some of my crew has been with me since I been racing go-karts since I been 12. It’s been pretty cool to still have them around.
“It’s just clicking and we’re gonna ride it for as long as it comes.”
Plus, Goodale gets to keep the shiny original from victory lane. He plans on putting the clock in his kitchen.
Goodale hated the grandfather clock he had in his house as a child. Make no mistake however: he’s in love with this one.
“It is about that clock,” he said. “You have no idea how bad I’ve wanted one of those. Now that that one’s mine, I’m gonna love it. I don’t care how many times it chimes when my fat foot sets that thing off. I’m gonna enjoy it.”
Save for his first Tour win in front of family and friends at Riverhead Raceway back in 2014, Thursday night’s Martinsville win is the sweetest one yet.
“I love Martinsville,” Goodale said. “We’ve been so good here in the past, and we just had issues that prohibited us from having good finishes. It’s awesome, man. This is Martinsville. Just the aura of it. I’ve watched Cup races here.
Goodale finished 10th at Martinsville in his tour debut in 2008. He was seventh there in 2009, but dropped to 24th in 2010.
Goodale had his share of struggles in 2020, dropping from sixth in the standings in 2019 to 15th in 2020. The speed, however, has clearly returned to the No. 58 GAF Roofing Chevrolet. It started with three top-10s at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna back in February, and has carried over to the Whelen Modified Tour season.
“[2019] and ‘20, we just really struggled,” Goodale said. “We found out everything not to do. You gotta put it behind us and just think that you’re gonna show up and win the next race. We didn’t get the win down in Florida, but we felt good leaving there.”
Up next for the Tour in less than two weeks: the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway, the track where Goodale’s last win came back in 2017. Since 2016, he has six top fives in 14 races at the half-mile.
“I run well at Stafford,” Goodale said. “I love Stafford. It’s gonna be good to show up there with a head of steam.”
Podium Shots
Tyler Rypkema collected five top 10s in nine races last year, including a best finish of eighth at Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsyvlania, en route to Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
The 24-year-old from Oswego, New York, established himself as a contender early at Martinsville. He was second fastest in practice, leading the charts until a late run by NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman knocked him off the top spot. After qualifying 10th, Rypkema ran with the leaders all night and brought the No. 32 Musco/Welcorp Chevrolet home with a runner-up finish.
“This is huge,” said Rypkema. “We’re just a family-run team. We all have day jobs. We all work our butts off to be able to come and do this, and to be come all the way down to a track that I’d always dreamed of racing at … and to pull off a second-place finish is just incredible.”
Justin Bosnignore, on the other hand, is used to running at the head of the pack. The third-place run by the No. 51 Coastal-Fiber Chevrolet was Bonsignore’s 16th straight top-five finish. But it wasn’t without its bumps.
A potential radiator leak after qualifying had the two-time tour champion standing outside his car while the rest of the field was lined up on pit road.
.@JBonsignore crew going to work on a radiator leak
The leak was eventually diagnosed as nothing and he made the grid as it rolled off, but Bonsignore had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments. He took the lead from Ryan Preece on Lap 111, and again with just under 40 to go but couldn’t fend off Goodale in the end.
“We did a longer run early in practice and we knew we had good speed, with not a lot of fall-off, the car was great to drive,” Bonsignore said. “There were no new-car jitters today. We raced our way up through the field, and had some really good strategy again by Ryan Stone. We just missed it on adjustments during the final stop.
“Starting at the tail and working our way into the top-three is a really good day. If you can’t win, you have to go out and run in the top three. We were able to get the season off on the right foot.”
Bonsignore turns his attention to Stafford, where he has seven top fives and 13 top 10s in his last 14 races – including a pair of runner-up finishes — but has remarkably gone winless in 38 career starts.
Notes
Max McLaughlin jumped in the No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet and finished fourth, matching his finish at Stafford last year in his first career tour start.
Tommy Catalano finished seventh, his second best tour finish in 39 starts.
After leading the first 110 laps, Mayhew Tools Pole Award winner Ryan Preece finished 12th.
Former tour champion Jamie Tomaino made his first start soince 2019 — and 624th overall — and finished 10th. The 64-year-old from New Jersey now has 249 career top 10s.
Former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour regular Bobby Measmer Jr. finished 14th. Measmer had one win and nine top fivesin 35 races from 2014-16 on the former southern tour.
Jeff Gallup was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Race contender in 15th, one spot ahead of rookie Jared Fryar.
Tommy Catalano runs ahead of Kyle Ebersole (5) and Woody Pitkat (1) during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 for the Whelen Modified Tour at Martinsville Raceway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 8, 2021. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
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Last five races for Active Drivers prior to 2021 Race – Ordered by Average Finish
The NASCAR Cup Series’ first stop of the season at Martinsville Speedway spanned two days — one start-and-stop night Saturday and a sun-splashed Sunday. Two near-constants atop the scoring pylon were Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney.
The two traded the lead often, their car numbers of 11 and 12 swapping the first and second spots throughout, but late-race issues kept both drivers out of Victory Lane by the end of Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain 500. Their dominance was legend, as Hamlin and Blaney combined to lead 433 of the 500 laps, but Martin Truex Jr.’s resurgence as the race pushed into the evening hours prevailed, elevating him to the series’ first repeat winner of 2021. Hamlin wound up third with Blaney 11th.
Both seemed poised to break droughts at the tricky .526-mile Virginia track. Hamlin was set up for his sixth Martinsville triumph but first since 2015. Blaney made a convincing case for his first Martinsville win.
Hamlin was out front for 276 laps, benefiting from a No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that brimmed with short-run speed. But his car began to fade in the final 42-lap run to the finish, as Truex worked his way by to pace the last 16 laps and Chase Elliott capitalized to grab second place.
Hamlin emerged from Martinsville with his grip on the series’ points lead intact, but the zero in the win column also remains, offset by a series-best seven top-five finishes in eight races.
“It’s just been amazing the execution that our team has had over the first eight races. Short of a pit-road penalty I had on the last pit stop at Homestead, we finished top three every single week,” Hamlin said. “It’s hard to be disappointed with that. We’re executing phenomenal. We just haven’t had that dominant car that we’ve had a few times last year that we just beat up on everyone. We just haven’t had that car yet. We’ve just been next best.”
Blaney, who swept the stage wins and led 157 laps with a car best suited to long green-flag stints, had a more dramatic drop from the ranks of contenders. He pulled in for his final pit stop on Lap 454 in second place, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford crew had the air-gun hose stick hang up in the left-front fender well as he left. Compounding the issue was damage sustained on Martinsville’s close-quarters pit road with Elliott. The penalty for removing equipment from his pit stall knocked Blaney from fifth to 19th in the running order, and he was only able to rally to just outside the top 10 by the end.
“We had a really good Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang tonight. On the long runs we were really good. Denny was good on short runs,” Blaney said. “I was just kind of trying to hold off the guys behind me until we got 20 or so laps in and then I could kind of start creeping forward. But we just got that pit road penalty at the end. It’s just a mistake and something that should be avoided. We’ve had an issue the last three times we’ve been here with a car to win, so that’s frustrating but I’m real proud of the effort. I just wish we could close one out.”
Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday’s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track.
The victory was Truex’s second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for the fifth time in his last 11-short track starts.
Truex finished 1.972 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott, who passed Hamlin for the second spot on Lap 495 of 500. Hamlin held third, 2.364 seconds behind, to post his seventh top-five finish (including four third-place results) in his eight starts this season.
“I can’t believe we won again here, after not having the dominant car today, for sure,” said Truex, who led for the first time when he beat Hamlin out of the pits on Lap 455 but surrendered the top spot to Hamlin’s short-run speed after a restart on Lap 459. “It was a lot of fun there at the end racing with Denny.
“We raced clean, and we were able to come out on top. It’s definitely difficult. We try to race hard, race clean. He was making it difficult on me — I was loose coming off the corners. His car got tight, so we kind of had opposite things going on, and it made it difficult to pass. We played nice. (Team owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) will be happy. It’ll be a cordial meeting tomorrow.”
In a race that produced 15 cautions for 102 laps, the 42-lap green-flag run to the finish proved Hamlin’s undoing. The driver No. 11 Toyota didn’t have the long-run speed to hold off his teammate.
“It’s just the cards we were dealt,” said Hamlin, who led 276 laps. “We had a really good short-run car. We just didn’t have a good long-run car. We just couldn’t get our car to turn in the long run. That was the bugaboo of it, I guess you could say.
“We had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.
Ryan Blaney won the first and second stages and led 157 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford dragged an air hose out of the pit box on his final stop, earning a penalty that sent him to the back of the field for the Lap 459 restart. He fought back for an 11th-place finish.
“We’ve had an issue the last three times we’ve been here with a car to win, so that’s frustrating, but I’m real proud of the effort,” Blaney said. “I just wish we could close one out.”
A 12-car pileup worthy of a “Big One” at Talladega Superspeedway thinned the field of potential winners and blocked the track as effectively as the forlorn container ship stopped traffic in the Suez Canal. Then melee started with side-to-side contact between the cars of Chris Buescher and Busch, collecting a dozen cars behind them — and setting the Chevrolets of Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece on fire.
The wreck, which stopped the race under a red flag that lasted 21 minutes, 47 seconds, was the coup de grace for two-time Martinsville winner Brad Keselowski, who had sustained damage in two earlier accidents.
“It’s just unfortunate that we got caught up in it,” Keselowski said. “The track was blocked. I think I was just barely going to get stopped in time, and somebody clobbered me from behind and just tore us up. It’s a bummer. I think we were really good.
“We drove up into the top five and lost the power-steering. I was able to manhandle it around the race track, but I couldn’t get down pit road where you go to turn in your pit box… Just one of those compounding, frustrating short-track days, but we had decent speed.”
The race was halted by rain after 42 laps Saturday night and resumed under caution at 4 p.m. ET Sunday.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is scheduled next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) at Richmond Raceway.
Note: Post-race inspection is complete in the NASCAR Cup Series garage with no issues and the race winner is confirmed to be Martin Truex Jr. Three cars had one lug nut found to be not safe and secure: the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Chase Briscoe and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Monday, April 12
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Tuesday, April 13
1 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Martinsville (re-air), FS2
4 a.m., Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder (re-air), FS2
5 a.m., Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Martinsville (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Davey Lives On (re-air), FS2
On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live
Thursday, April 15
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia Is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway (tape-delay), NBCSN
5:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder (re-air), FS1
Friday, April 16
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Saturday, April 17
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2008 Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Richmond Raceway, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway, FS1
On MRN:
1 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway
Sunday, April 18
7 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Richmond, FS1
2:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCS at Richmond Raceway, FOX
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, FOX (Canada: TSN1, TSN5)
On MRN:
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway
Short-track racing and short fuses boiled over post-race as Joe Graf Jr. and Gray Gaulding — a pair of former teammates — tussled after Sunday’s completion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway.
The altercation stemmed from an on-track incident in the final stage, sparked by a Gaulding nudge to Graf’s back bumper. That contact sent Graf’s No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet spinning and into the No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevy of Blaine Perkins. Gaulding drove his Means Motorsports No. 52 Chevrolet to a 21st-place finish in the Cook Out 250, and Perkins took 35th with Graf 38th.
Graf told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race he walked over to discuss the incident with Gaulding in the garage. Graf said a remark from Gaulding escalated their confrontation and he had thrown multiple punches before they wound up wrestling on the ground.
NASCAR officials separated the two. Both drivers indicated they had gone to the officials’ hauler to discuss the incident. Afterward, both drivers further explained their cases on SiriusXM’s “Dialed In” program before Sunday’s resumption of the rain-delayed Cup Series race (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“There, with about 75 laps to go, though, Gray just wrecked us and the 23, drove us off into the corner and just flat-out wrecked us and ended our day,” Graf said. “I went to have words with him after the race and he mouthed off to me and there were some punches thrown. I landed a couple.
“I think the garage is just loaded with drivers who pretend they’re tough. Like, they’re going to find out how tough they are if they race me like that and then run their mouth at me. Just ask Gray how he’s doing now. I’m sure he’s needing some ice packs.”
Gaulding said that his on-track actions were intentional, and his only apology was to the Bobby Dotter-owned SS Green Light team that he drove for full-time in 2019 and part-time as a teammate with Graf for five races last season. His issue with Graf stemmed from contact between the two earlier in the race.
“I 100 percent wrecked him on purpose because I’m tired of dealing with his nonsense. The reason why I stand by that is because earlier in the race, about 30 laps in, I was just running on the outside (line), there’s nowhere to go, and I just get body-slammed, and it was the 07. And then when he was going by me, he door-slammed me. So I told my spotter, I said when I get back to the 07, he’s done, and I stood by that. I’m not going to stand by here and sugar-coat it, I 100 percent wrecked him and I don’t regret one thing I did.
“I’d do it all over again because the way that guy races, it’s actually comical watching him drive because his equipment is very good. I drove that equipment, and I think there’s a lot of jealousy there. I personally think so because he hasn’t sniffed the results that I had with Bobby Dotter and SS Green Light Racing since he’s been there. I think it’s kind of funny that he’s got that chip on his shoulder with me and you can tell with the way he races on the race track.”
As for their conversation, Gaulding recounted how it escalated from words to a physical confrontation.
“I was just walking back to the hauler and he starts cussing me out and just … I literally started laughing. I think that’s what made him upset,” Gaulding said. “I was laughing because he’s very awkward, and I didn’t know if he was serious or not, so when we were done talking, he started swinging. …
“The poor kid has got a lot to learn, and when you drive the way he’s currently driving, he’s going to get wrecked, and I’m very, very happy that I was the one to wreck him today.”
As for Graf, he said that the two drivers did not reach a resolution in their brief talk before their scuffle. The series resumes April 24 at Talladega Superspeedway.
“There was no understanding. He tried to blame me,” Graf said. “Just a major lack of respect, and I won’t have it. I won’t be raced like that and I won’t be disrespected like that.”
