The finish of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, the final race before the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 8 was controversial because of two late-race incidents. NASCAR officials, though, have decided no penalties are warranted.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was told via team radio communications not to pass Denny Hamlin, one of the drivers going after a spot in the championship four at Phoenix. Even though Jones was told not to pass his teammate, a JGR representative told NBC Sports, “We don’t have team orders.”
On the final lap of the Martinsville race, Kevin Harvick, the 2020 regular-season champion and another of the drivers vying for a chance to race for the championship at Phoenix, wrecked Kyle Busch, who already had been eliminated from title contention, in an attempt to increase his finishing position.
“It was just a move I had to try knowing that I needed one point,” Harvick said. “I needed to hit [Busch] square in the door, but at that point, I was too late and wound up hitting him in the back. It was just a Hail Mary that didn’t work out.”
Harvick’s plan didn’t work, though. He wound up wrecking himself and finishing 17th. As a result, he fell eight points shy of advancing on points.
Hamlin, meanwhile, did secure advancement with an 11th-place finish at Martinsville.
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