The Martinsville cut-off race almost always ends in drama as drivers fight tooth and nail for the final spots in the Championship 4 across all three national divisions of the sport -- but it's simply at another level in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where rising stars are still learning the ropes and trying to make their mark.
In 2022, Ty Gibbs dumped his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones for the win, which was especially awkward since Gibbs was already going to make the final four on points while Jones was not. He didn't seem bothered by the showers of boos.
2023 was even crazier as Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed slammed into each other in the battle for the win (and the transfer spot). Hill crashed and Creed lost in a spectacular photo finish with Justin Allgaier, which was followed by some extremely tense exchanges involving the estranged teams and then-RCR executive Andy Petree.
This year, any chaos may involve the driver of the No. 81 Toyota piloted by 22-year-old Chandler Smith, and for good reason. He is currently 28 points out and in a likely must-win situation. There are of course three other drivers in the same boat, but all of them have a job for next year. Smith, who has two wins and the highest average finish in the entire Xfinity field, does not.
He's a young racer with multiple victories in the Xfinity and Truck Series, and was also impressive in the three Cup races he ran last year, but his future in NASCAR is in serious doubt. After Homestead, he made that much clear along with something else -- he does not care about anyone else when NASCAR rolls into Martinsville this weekend.
"For somebody that don't have a job next year in the industry and will probably gonna go be working for my dad on the construction side just because of how things are unfortunately playing out, I feel like I don't owe anybody anything going to Martinsville," he told NBC.
That's right. Joe Gibbs Racing has already announced William Sawalich, Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones as their full-time Xfinity drivers for 2025 -- Smith is not among them, and his pockets aren't deep enough to buy a ride elsewhere. This might actually be it for his budding NASCAR career.
The Talking Rock, Georgia native went on to say with a smile that he instructed his crew chief, Jeff Meendering, to do the following in preparation for the upcoming cut-off race: "Make sure the front bumper on that thing is reinforced for Martinsville."
Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer holds the fourth and final spot, just seven points behind Justin Allgaier. C. Smith is joined by Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Sammy Smith as the drivers who will try to win their way into the Championship 4 on Saturday, but again, they are all drivers with a clear picture of their future in this sport.
From the comments Smith made to NBC and several media outlets last weekend, he has no real future at the moment and so, zero reason to hold back as he embarks on what could potentially be the final two races of his NASCAR career.
