The Top Five: Breaking down the Martinsville playoff race

Five thoughts after Sunday’s Round 3 opener at Martinsville…

1. What if….

I recently invented a special machine that allows me to travel between parallel universes and watch NASCAR races in two different dimensions. I just arrived back from the alternate universe where Joey Logano elected to race cleanly and NOT move Martin Truex Jr. for the win at Martinsville.

If you’re wondering how that decision went over with everyone, I brought the postrace transcript from Logano’s runner-up press conference from the parallel universe. Here it is.

REPORTER 1: “Joey, it looked like you had a chance to move Martin out of the way on that last lap and backed out of it. What was going through your mind there, knowing that may have cost you a chance to reach Homestead?”

LOGANO: “Look, I love winning. But clean driving is everything to me. If I can’t have the respect of my competitors, I don’t want to be doing this. Martin raced me fair and square, so I wanted to do the same in return.”

REPORTER 2: “That’s great, but what do you say to your fans and team after passing up a guaranteed shot to make the final four?”

LOGANO: “Martin is a classy guy. We attend each other’s charity events and he’s always so nice when my wife and I see him in the motorhome lot. I know we’ll be friends for years to come. It’s just not worth it to ruin that relationship. Heck, we’re supposed to go out on the lake together this week!”

REPORTER 3: “Joey, it looks like Twitter is lighting up with fans who say you must not want a championship badly enough if that’s how you race. How do you answer critics who say you get paid millions of dollars to do whatever it takes to win?”

LOGANO: “Have you ever been loudly booed by a crowd? Have you ever had a driver’s significant other tweet something negative about you? I mean, geez. Those things hurt. I don’t want any part of that. I would rather be a good guy and keep my reputation intact than do anything to make people think I’m a dirty driver.”

(TWO MONTHS LATER)

SPONSOR: “Joey, we like you a lot, but we’re paying $20 million a year for our car to win races and championships. We’re going to be moving on.”

LOGANO: “Aw, OK. I hope we can still be friends!”

2. Respect for Truex

Is it possible to agree with Logano’s last-lap move and still empathize with the obvious anger felt by Truex and Cole Pearn?

Absolutely.

Truex had an incredible drive on Sunday. He had his qualifying time thrown out and started in the back, only to make it through the field — at Martinsville, no less! — and contend in the top five almost the entire day.

Truex fought his way toward the front, then patiently and cleanly worked Logano for the lead until making what seemed to be the winning pass.

Had Truex won, that would have been one of the highlights of his career: First short track win, a win-and-in ticket to Homestead, high stakes with his team getting ready to shut down and people loudly saying he’s the most vulnerable of the Big Three drivers to miss the final four.

Instead…Logano ran into him. And now making Homestead is no sure thing.

Frustrating! Super, super frustrating! Who wouldn’t be angry about that?

I still don’t blame Logano for making the move, but it’s completely understandable why Truex and his fans would be upset about it. When looking back in a couple weeks, that one moment could very well be the difference between competing for a championship and missing out altogether.

That said, as mad as he may be now, I see no scenario under which Truex retaliates. He’s just not that kind of driver. Even if he doesn’t make Homestead, Truex isn’t going to go out and ruin Logano’s championship race with a crash. He might race Logano hard, but Truex won’t pull a Matt Kenseth. No way.

3. What’s the code?

I’m not a driver, so this is just one interpretation of what’s OK on the last lap in NASCAR and what isn’t.

— If you can move someone out of the way and do it without ruining their day — i.e. without wrecking them or costing them more than a few positions — then it’s not only acceptable in NASCAR, but expected. And even encouraged by series officials.

— If you have a chance to door someone for a side-by-side finish, it’s a coin toss as to whether the other driver and the general fan base will think it’s an acceptable move. This often depends on the person initiating the contact.

— If you accidentally wreck the person while trying to move them (like Denny Hamlin on Chase Elliott), that is considered off-limits and there will be repercussions from both the other driver and fans.

— If you crash the person in a reckless-but-unintentional way (not necessarily on purpose, but understanding there will be full contact like Noah Gragson on Todd Gilliland), people may view it the same way as a blatant takeout.

— If you completely crash someone on purpose in order to win, that’s viewed as a dirty move that takes no talent and the fallout might stain your reputation for years.

Logano’s move on Truex — like any bump-and-run at a short track — is about the least offensive way to physically move someone and falls into the first category. That’s the type of move that can only happen in stock car racing and is a hallmark of what makes NASCAR fun. You’re not going to get that in Formula One, let’s put it that way.

4. Stuff that doesn’t matter

Over the last four weeks, I’ve taken a step back from NASCAR as I got off the road for the birth of my daughter. Though I’ve tried to follow the news as much as possible, there’s no doubt having a newborn at home makes it difficult to be as immersed in the NASCAR bubble as the weeks when I’m on the road at races.

And I’ve got to tell you: Looking at the big picture, it’s a bit alarming how the NASCAR world seems to get caught up in minor, tiny crap that doesn’t really matter and actually detracts from the sport.

One example is the race day morning inspection where qualifying times get thrown out. Here I am as a TV viewer who woke up excited to spend my Sunday watching some short-track racin’ across the country. I opened my Twitter app, and what was the big storyline of the day? Drivers getting their qualifying times disallowed, starting at the back for unapproved adjustments, crew members getting ejected, etc.

Seriously? This is what we’re talking about on playoff race day morning?? For a short track where aero doesn’t even really matter???

Officiating things that way certainly seems excessive. And yes, I know all about the reasons why they do it; I’m explaining the big-picture view of why it seems silly.

Another example was the race a couple weeks ago at Talladega. My wife was in the hospital that day and I was unable to pay much attention to the race, though we had it on in the background on mute.

When I tried catching up with what happened, the big controversy was apparently about whether NASCAR should have made the caution one lap shorter and whether officials should have thrown a yellow for a wreck on the last lap instead of having it finish under green.

Look, I completely understand why those are significant debates for those in the NASCAR industry and fans who are super passionate about the sport. But can you imagine how all this looks to casual fans or people who might want to give NASCAR a chance?

Headlines like Drivers criticize NASCAR for running them out of fuel with long caution! and Fans angry NASCAR chose drama over safety on last lap! just seem like such minor things from afar. As does Defending champion will start at the back today for failing laser scan on first try!

I’m not suggesting I have the solution to all this, because I don’t. And I’m not criticizing the media, certainly; when I get back at Texas next week, I’ll be all-in with the bubble once again.

But if these are the storylines, NASCAR has some real work to do. It cannot afford to be stuck on the minutiae, because there aren’t enough people left who care that much. Simplify things, focus on what really makes people want to spend their time on the sport (great racing and interesting driver storylines) and everyone will be much better off.

5. What’s next?

Logano taking a guaranteed spot at Homestead means at least one of the Big Three is going to have to point their way into the final four. After Martinsville, Truex and Kevin Harvick are tied for the last two spots, 25 points above the cutline.

I think both will be OK, as will Kyle Busch. Harvick is probably going to win Texas, Phoenix or both; Busch might win one of those as well. That means Truex, with a pair of top-five finishes, should be just fine.

Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch are already facing big points deficits after just one week. Are any of them going to win a race in this round? I actually think it’s more likely a non-playoff type like a Denny Hamlin or a Brad Keselowski will win, which would open up an addition points position for a Big Three member.

So as it turns out, perhaps all of the Big Three will make it to Homestead after all — just maybe not exactly how we expected.

15 Replies to “The Top Five: Breaking down the Martinsville playoff race”

  1. Brilliant writing today. The “Off” time recharged you.
    I loved the racing today. Logano move NOT Dirty but if Martin wants to spin (not crash) him during normal racing it would be justified.
    I am not a Logano fan and I Booed the TV. Then I thought what if the spots were reversed….I would have cheered. So net is that was aggressive but fair.

  2. Absolutely loved how you wrote item 1 and read it out loud to my husband.

    I’ve picked Kyle to win it all in a fun little competition I’m doing with my hair stylist, but honestly think it would be fun if only 1 or 2 of the big three even make the final.

    As for today, #teamjoey

  3. Your time travel is pure poppycock. The problem is you didn’t go to where Truex bumped Logano out of the way with six laps to go.

    The “code” is you race other drivers the way they race you. Truex expected to be raced cleanly like he raced Logano. Problem was that it was the last lap on a short track, and the bump and run is fair game.

    He should have bumped Logano six laps prior and then made some distance on him. Hindsight is 20/20.

    1. Exactly! joey just did what Truex had done 6 laps earlier. Last lap, short track, guarantee to be in the final 4. His job is to win races, not friends. Kyle Busch wrecked Larsen, and everyone thought it was a great finish. More on the line here, works for me.

    2. One small thing you left it Discipulus, Truex was the faster car. When the car in front of you is clearly slower, they are blocking. You tap them and tap them until they move, and then you move them. When you are the slower car and you use the car in front of you as your brakes heading into the corner on purpose because you CAN’T pass them clean, there is a difference.

  4. I don’t understand why people have a problem with the good guy. If I remember correctly EVERYONE loved Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, two of the cleanest racers in the garage. I would say you could say the say of Jimmie Johnson. Sure he could be aggressive at times (just ask Jeff Gordon) but I don’t recall where he just knocked somebody out of the way.

    1. What have Mark and Jeff Burton won? Jeff Gordon put it the best, not here to make friends, but not enemies also.

  5. What would any of the NASCAR super stars of the past have done on the last lap of a short track with guaranteed odds of being 1 of 4 drivers racing to of win the championship?

  6. I have long said that part of the problems with NASCAR today is that every small detail gets beat to death with coverage and endless articles. NASCAR needs to fix this inspection issue now. It turns people away when this is all you read about. Controversy today isn’t swept under the rug like it was years ago when the reporters were beat writers at the track who truly loved racing. They didn’t diminish the sport with their reporting.
    Any new fans today face a long list of negative articles and seem to look past the great racing taking place. Martinsville was a fantastic race all day! Constant action, thrilling final lap, what more could you ask for? NASCAR needs to do their part to end this constant issue with inspections, lighten the rules a little bit. Some of this crap they are penalizing teams for is stupid. 1/100 of an inch is not an advantage for a car built by hand.

  7. One small thing you left it Discipulus, Truex was the faster car. When the car in front of you is clearly slower, they are blocking. You tap them and tap them until they move, and then you move them. When you are the slower car and you use the car in front of you as your brakes heading into the corner on purpose because you CAN’T pass them clean, there is a difference.

  8. Not getting where Marty drove “clean”. He moved, bumped and banged his way through the field. Which is perfectly fine. That is what you do at short tracks.

    Marty bumped and banged Logano for what 6 or 7 laps? He tried to move him but was not successful.

    Nascar media and fans are about as hypocritical as you can get.
    Logano ran a great race. He won. Get over it.

  9. Martinsville was a great race and one of the biggest take aways from that is how many people were actually able to watch it on NBCSN? It’s hard enough to get friends & family interested in the sport with what they call annual rule changes but then it was hidden on tv unless you had an extended cable/digital package.

    As for Logano/MTJ as much as I wanted MTJ to win, it’s Logano attitude after the fact for yesterday’s race and the ones with Kenseth where he is so damn swarmy about his win. I dislike Logano but the only bright spot is that TJ is actually in it at Homestead so that’s good.

    Overall the main message I hear everyone agreeing on is #moreshorttracks. Maybe Nascar should mess with the schedule instead of the rule book every freaking year.

  10. only racing….each would have bumped the other at any time to win that race. Nothing to see here, move along. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for….

  11. ….and if this isn’t a wake up call for NASCAR (more short tracks!!!), then NASCAR is doomed…

  12. Nothing different than the Daytona 500 this year!! But because it was Dillon in the “3” car there was no problem with it. Joey held off Truex for many laps of his bumping that did not work. Watch the race of Martin coming from the back hitting several cars including Clint. Martin should just suck it up and stop crying like his new teammate Kyle!!!!!

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