The NASCAR Xfinity Series recently witnessed a heated altercation at Martinsville Speedway, which resulted in Chandler Smith being fined $10,000 for a confrontation with fellow driver Cole Custer. The Kaulig Racing driver was penalized under NASCAR’s section 4.4.D Member Conduct rules.
Tensions boiled over following a fiercely contested last lap between Smith and Custer, resulting in Smith initiating a physical dispute. The altercation came on the heels of comments Smith made over team radio, foreshadowing the confrontation with expletive-laden threats aimed at Custer. “What he’s [Cole Custer] going to do is get his f***ing a** beat after the race he keeps f***ing around. Punk a** b***h,” Smith stated.
Smith argued that Custer’s moves in the race hindered his performance, thus preventing him from securing a necessary win. Whilst speaking to the media after the race, Smith explained:
“I was planning to do a lot more than that to be completely frank with you, I was extremely p***ed off.
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“I gave him five laps before that before that caution came out, beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything like that. Then finally it’s like alright, the laps are winding down. I’m in a must-win, the 20’s starting to drive away. He was really good all day. I can’t waste any more time with him. So, I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the race track and went on our way. But I gave him a chance for five laps before that, right?
“Well, I think he was the first guy all day who chose the outside lan from third place so that’s very interesting. And then he didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to turn one and funny enough, the restart right after that, picked right behind me again. How ironic is that?”
In contrast, Custer, driving the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, approached the situation with a degree of composure. He explained:
“What comes around goes around in this deal. I’m so proud of this team and we brought out everything we had today. Kept us in the fight, you know. … Just can’t thank Gene Haas, everybody at Haas Automation, Ford Performance. Can’t wait to go to Phoenix now and see what we can do.
“I mean it is what it is. I think at the end of the day, you know, he put us in the wall a few times this year. He kept us from winning a race I feel like at Kansas, and he used the bumper on me, I used the bumper on him. I don’t know how we’re not even. Then he punches me in the face. I can’t even tell if he really punched me in the face it was so soft. But at the end of the day, we’ll go on to Phoenix.”
