Martinsville Speedway for the past few years has made me wistful at times. It’s not just because of the Next Gen car and the well-publicized issues that it has on shorter tracks. The issues date back well before that. Remember 2019, when there were six lead changes in 1,000 laps there?
Once Sunday (March 30) came along, all that was really being discussed was the NASCAR Xfinity Series Marine Corps 250 quagmire. Mind you, the first portion of the race wasn’t all that bad. It’s just that the final stage had 10 cautions and ended with Sammy Smith committing a travesty in turn 3.
A replay of the #NASCAROvertime finish at @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/fGJecynkQT
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 29, 2025
During the Sunday race, Mike Joy didn’t hold back when he volunteered his opinion of Saturday’s situation. He called the Xfinity race a “dumpster fire.” When I heard that, I thought, “Oh man, that’s harsh.”
Later on, he doubled down and got harsher. Here, he stated, “I said the Xfinity Series was a dumpster fire, it’s not. A dumpster fire is contained, and that series is not right now.” Ouch. That’s not a glowing endorsement from someone who has been broadcasting NASCAR since before the Xfinity Series was a touring series.
Clint Bowyer criticized NASCAR for not punishing Smith for his actions on the final lap. He stated that NASCAR should have moved him to the rear of the field for his intentional actions. While I cannot recall a time in which NASCAR has done that in a national-level event, it has happened in other events in the past to current Cup drivers.
Heck, I’ve spent time covering series in recent years that would park people for incidents a third as egregious as what Smith did. NASCAR can send a message to him this week if they want to. Whether they do remains to be seen.
Outside of the discussion of Saturday’s ludicrous racing, the broadcast of Sunday’s Cook Out 400 had to contend with a lot of the issues that come with racing at Martinsville these days.
Yes, we have rubber going down on the track (which is good), but seeing the racing for position is often difficult. A lot of that has to do with where FOX Sports chooses to focus its cameras during the broadcast.
There’s always a decent amount of racing at Martinsville, if for no other reason than you really can’t escape from everyone when there are 38 cars on the track. However, you never really saw much in the way of racing at times Sunday. Especially late in the race.
“I feel like we were definitely better than [Christopher Bell], but just everybody [gets] so stuck,” Bubba Wallace said after finishing third Sunday. “When you feel like you have an advantage, you can’t really do anything with it. We need to continue to work on this package, but all-in-all – back-to-back top-fives is a good day.”
I definitely got that idea while watching the last segment of the race. There was all but no movement in the top 10 over the final 75-lap run under green to the finish. For the most part, the focus was kept on the drivers at the front (Denny Hamlin, Bell and Wallace) since it seemed like they were having a nice battle. However, nothing happened.
Eventually, Hamlin drove away from the rest of the contenders and won by over four seconds. Where was the action in the final segment? Further back.
Joey Logano, who had not finished in the top 10 all season prior to Sunday, charged up to an eighth-place finish after restarting toward the back of the top 20. Did viewers see any of that charge? A little of it, not much. You saw him in 16th, then you didn’t see another mention of him until we got to the finish.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data, there was more passing than last year. However, it just didn’t look like it. We’re leagues ahead of the fall of 2022, where there were less than 700 passes under green for the whole race.
In addition, there was some issue with FOX Sports’ pylon for most of the race Sunday. As a result, viewers could not see anything below 20th on there for the entire race. No reference was made to the issue at all that I can remember.
With a situation like that, you have to be able to work around that. Maybe include more looks back through the field. Remember that everyone has fans out there, and you can’t assume that everyone watching the race is using a second screen. Anyone who was a fan of someone who wasn’t in the top 20 on Sunday might as well have been in the dark.
Prior to the race, NASCAR RaceDay had a couple of interesting pieces. One had Kevin Harvick sitting down with Wallace to describe his season, what he considers to be a bad start to the season and how he’s changed over the past year or so.
If we didn’t have stage points, then Wallace’s thoughts about the start of the year would make a little more sense. He was seventh in points entering the race. Without the stage points, he would have been around 18th.
Generally speaking, few drivers in NASCAR are harder on themselves than Wallace. That mentality has likely hurt him in the past. However, you saw a different Wallace in this piece. He seems more relaxed and less high-strung compared to past years. This could be good going forward.
Earlier, Jamie McMurray sat down with Kyle Larson, fresh off his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He seemed to be relieved to get the win, which honestly sounded rather weird. It’s not like he’s run bad this season. He also expressed gratitude for his current position at Hendrick Motorsports after his relative struggles at Chip Ganassi Racing and how he has unexpectedly become good at Martinsville.
McMurry is likely the perfect person to conduct this interview since he was Larson’s teammate for the first five years of his career at Ganassi. McMurray knew how much Larson disliked racing at The Paperclip and how much he struggled early on there. He had only two top-10 finishes at Martinsville with Ganassi but has finished no worse than sixth in the last six races there.
Post-race coverage was about normal. Viewers got interviews with the top-four finishers (Hamlin, Bell, Wallace and Chase Elliott), along with some post-race analysis before leaving for Pomona.
Overall, Sunday’s race appeared to be fairly light on action at times. Hamlin led 274 of the final 275 laps of the race to win. However, there was more action to be had on Sunday, and we really didn’t get a good look at it. Due to the fact that we don’t get the best look at it, it might give the fans a less than fully objective opinion of the Next Gen car on short tracks.
That’s all for this week. Next weekend is Throwback Weekend for the Cup and Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway. On Saturday, April 5, the ARCA Menards Series West will make its second trip to Arizona, this time at Tucson Speedway. Its race will begin at 9 p.m. ET with the broadcast on FloRacing. In addition, Formula One returns to action at Suzuka Circuit. For the TV listings, check here.
For next week’s edition of Couch Potato Tuesday here at Frontstretch, we’ll cover Sunday’s Goodyear 400 and anything else that tickles my fancy. For The Critic’s Annex in the Frontstretch Newsletter, we’ll cover The CW’s broadcast of the “dumpster fire” known as the Marine Corps 250.
If you have a gripe with me or just want to say something about my critique, feel free to post in the comments below. Even though I can’t always respond, I do read your comments. Also, if you want to “like” me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, please click on the appropriate icons. If you would like to contact either of NASCAR’s media partners, click on either of the links below.
As always, if you choose to contact a network by email, do so in a courteous manner. Network representatives are far more likely to respond to emails that ask questions politely rather than emails full of rants and vitriol.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.