Like in most races of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series, Ty Gibbs seemed to have a dominant car and was in the front near the end of the race. It looked like Gibbs would grab his series leading 4th win of the season and just needed to make it through a second attempt at an overtime finish.
Brandon Jones had other ideas!
Before the final restart, which was delayed after a lengthy red flag after a substantial pile up during the first attempt at an overtime finish, the FS1 television crew spoke to Brandon Jones crew chief who jokingly spoke of needing to wreck Gibbs to get the win.
But this time, Brandon Jones used the inside line to pull aside and eventually pass pass for the win in Friday night's NASCAR Xfinity Series Call 811 Before You Dig 250 At Martinsville Speedway.
At the end of the day, he didn't need to wreck Gibbs, rather he just needed to push to the inside, hold his position and hold it for the checkered flag.
As expected, Jones was quite happy after the race!
“What a day, I can’t say we could’ve played it out any better,” Jones told FS1. “I love the call that we made to get stage points, drove the thing all the way from the back to the front. I had older tires than all those guys at the end.
“This is a driver’s race track right here. I’ve won at a lot of different places now and this is one you have to get after it. Ty ran a really hard race. I can’t believe he cleared me really early in Stage 3, he had a strong car as well. Fun to beat him, he’s hot right now, he’s tough to beat, so that was a good one.”
And, like many times before, when Brandon Jones wins, a fight just might break out on pit road. After Gibbs lost the lead he was in a sour mood after getting contact with Sam Mayer on the final lap. When the driver exited their cars they began to have words and soon those words turned into punches.
Mayer removed his helmet after exiting the car while Gibbs chose to keep his head protection before entering the scuffle. The loyal Martinsville fans who had stuck around on a cool and damp evening and a late night night made sure to shower Gibbs with "Boo's" when interviewed post race.
AJ Allmendinger picked up an extra $100,000 for finishing 3rd. He was the highest finishing driver of the 4 eligible to win the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus after finishing in the top 4 of eligible drivers at COTA. While AJ wasn't pleased with the 3rd place finish, he was satisfied at winning the bonus to take back to his Kaulig Racing team.
Dale Earnhardt Jr who raced in his only planned race of the season, finished 11th.
Brandon Jones
Landon Cassill
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Hill
Sam Mayer
Riley Herbst
Ryan Truex
Ty Gibbs
Ryan Sieg
Jeremy Clements
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Parker Retzlaff
Daniel Hemric
Anthony Alfredo
Alex Labbe
Kyle Weatherman
Bayley Currey
Matt Mills
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Derek Griffith
Jade Buford
David Starr
Myatt Snider
Ryan Vargas
Joe Graf Jr
Shane Lee
Stefan Parsons
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
JJ Yeley
Jeb Burton
Mason Massey
Brandon Brown
Natalie Decker
Howie Disavino III
Brett Moffitt
Brennan Poole
Fight gets attention from ESPN:
See the NASCAR staff report:
Chris Estrada from NBC Sports gives the scoop:
See the fight:
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