The Xfinity Series returned to short track action at Martinsville for the U.S. Marine Corps 250 this weekend, and once the dust settled it was the #21 of Austin Hill who capitalized on a day full of chaos and driving malpractice in the Virginian mountains.

The race started off relatively cordially, with rookie JRM driver Connor Zilisch capturing the pole and coasting to a stage one win that saw no incidents until eight laps to go. The win is Zilisch’s first stage win on an oval track.

While things looked nice and tidy for the 88 after one stage, it didn’t last long as the lapped 14 car spun out on the backstretch, causing the leader Brandon Jones to check up and collect Zilisch as well.

Jones needed to repair the damage but Zilisch luckily missed the tire rub and proceeded to stay out. Fighting cars with new tires, the rookie went on to snatch stage two and grab the sweep.

Despite the dominance, Zilisch was forced to fight in the middle of the pack due to the 88 team’s strategy, which proved to end various teams’ days as stage three continued to trudge on.

As for the Dash 4 Cash, Allgaier and Sammy Smith continued to battle for the chance at 100k at the front of the field

On lap 176, Zilisch flew into turn one hot and spun out, effectively ending his chance of getting his first oval win in his rookie season.

This was only the start of the perpetual yellow in today’s final stage, but with the removal of the dominant chevy in the running, cars like the 54 of Taylor Gray and the 18 of William Sawalich tested their metal.

What proceeded to curse the probably many viewers of this race (great ratings work Xfinity!) for the next eighty laps was some of the worst short track racing you could watch in a national stock car series. I mean I’ve seen more consistent green flag runs at places like Bowman Gray, and that whole track is built off of a gimmick. The grandfather clock and the track of Martinsville is certainly better than what we got.

Carson Ware spin, Harrison Burton spin, Dean Thompson spin, Van Alst stalling, you name it. Some clear evidence that a few drivers here are prepared for stock car racing’s second best showing. One of the more egregious examples would come on lap 232 as some tough racing caused Christian Eckes to drift up the track in front of Sam Mayer, who just decided that he didn’t need to lift and absolutely plowed through the 16, who spun into the 48 and ruined his day. This brought out the red flag with 23 laps to go

Through it all, the 54 of Taylor Gray remained dynamite on the various restarts, fighting off veterans like Allgaier and hungry series regulars like Sheldon Creed, who leads the series in 2nd place finishes with 13. Time and time again the JGR Supra remained on point.

With a Matt Dibenedetto spin causing overtime, Gray would need one more fantastic restart to capture his first xfinity series in. Clearing the #8 of Sammy Smith, Gray was poised to do just that.

Coming around turn three, Smith sent his Pilot Chevrolet hard into the 54s bumper, spinning him out and ending his race immediately after over 50 laps led. Smith’s boneheaded maneuver not only killed his momentum, but sandwiched his JRM teammate Allgaier, ruining any chance at building on his massive 600k of Dash 4 Cash career earnings.

Just like that, after not leading a single lap, Austin Hill found himself in victory lane with a grandfather clock, championing a large flag celebrating Richard Childress’ 100th Xfinity Series win.

“We didn’t have the fastest car, but that restart, it just got wild,” Hill said in his post race interview. “I’m in disbelief that we’re in victory lane right now. I actually said earlier [that] I hated this race for all the beating and banging that happens.”

Gray confronted Smith outside of the care center, sharing words before storming off. The #8 was bullish, but regretful, in post race interviews when asked if he had crossed a line.

“I’m not proud of that, but roles reversed he would’ve done the same thing to me” said Smith outside of the care center. “He’s got no respect for me. He was flipping me off under the red and swerving at me. It’s definitely uncalled for and I’m not proud of it, but he would’ve done the exact same thing”

Bickering aside, hypotheticals are one thing while actions are another. Sure, he may have flipped you off mid race but ruining a great day and your teammates chance for 100k is not the most justifiable.

I hope to see some actual racecraft at these tracks for this series. The broadcast team was always mentioning how the average number of cautions for the series at this track since its return in 2020 is 13. Thirteen! That’s not a good thing at all. Whether it’s drivers being called up too early or spotters not providing enough communication, something has to change.

Nonetheless, the Xfinity series returns to action next week at Darlington Raceway for throwback weekend. The green flag for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 flies at 12:30 PM PST.

Takeaways

Cam: Yeesh. That was a rough one. I expect this sort of racing from the Truck Series but I really was hoping for better from the Xfinity Series. I know these kids are young but these sort of mistakes get figured out in late models. Guys who know what they’re doing like Allgaier or Gray don’t deserve to be caught up in this stuff.

The unfortunate part is that the race was otherwise great, when the drivers were able to race, they put on a great show as usual. The final stage just felt pretty neutered with so many cautions.

I’m very eager to return to some classic intermediate action at Darlington next week.

Jack: Disgraceful is the only word that I can find for that third stage at Martinsville. Constant spins, unnecessary dive bombs and more just prolonged a race that should have been a return to form for the series at one of NASCAR’s classic tracks.

I have to feel for Gray, having your first win taken away after passing Smith clean, not once, but twice, is absolutely brutal. Meanwhile, I hope Dale Jr. has a long sit down with Smith after this week because that move and his excuses post-race were shameful.

At least the cars will be pretty to look at next week in throwback weekend at Darlington, but anything would be better than what I just watched.