A post-race fight occurred after the race, between Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer. On the last lap, Gibbs and Jones were battling for the lead, when Mayer and Landon Cassill both attempted to go around Gibbs on the inside line, and resulted with a three wide situation. Mayer's car would get loose, causing him to move up the racetrack, and putting Gibbs into the outside wall. Mayer and Gibbs would end up finishing 5th and 8th, respectively.[2]
Background
Martinsville Speedway is an NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The only 30-minute practice session was held on Thursday, April 7, at 5:30 PM EST.[3]Sheldon Creed of Richard Childress Racing would set the fastest in the session, with a time of 20.360 seconds and a speed of 93.006 mph (149.679 km/h).
Qualifying was held on Thursday, April 7, at 6:00 PM EST.[3] Since Martinsville Speedway is a short track, the qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap system with only one round. Whoever sets the fastest time in the round wins the pole.[4]
Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing scored the pole for the race, with a time of 19.728 seconds and a speed of 95.985 mph (154.473 km/h).[5]
After the race, Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer got into a fistfight on pit road. On the last lap after getting passed by Brandon Jones, Gibbs was looking for a good finish when he got bumped by Sam Mayer and then Mayer shoved Gibbs up the racetrack in turn 4 after Mayer made contact with Landon Cassill. Mayer finished 5th while Gibbs finished 8th. After they took the checkered flag, Gibbs ran into Mayer's rear bumper a few times as a show of displeasure. On pit road, the two drivers got out of their cars and tried to talk with their helmets on. Gibbs then shoved Mayer as Mayer was taking his helmet off but Gibbs chose to keep his on. Upset with that, Mayer took Gibbs' visor and pushed it up as if he wants him to take his helmet off but Gibbs refused. After a shove by Mayer, Gibbs threw 3 punches at Mayer and the two got into a scuffle on pit road. Both drivers were eventually separated.[6] Gibbs was eventually fined $15,000 for hitting Mayer's car after the race.[7]
