標籤: Martinsville

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace had a chance to finish in the top 20 in Sunday’s Cook Out 400, which would have kept him at least in the top seven in the NASCAR standings entering the break. Instead, he got involved with Carson Hocevar in a decision that ruined his day and cost the No. 23 team.

Recaping the race on Monday’s episode of Action Detrimental, driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin noted Wallace’s costly action against Hocevar in the final stages.

RELATED: Cook Out 400 winners, losers, including Bubba Wallace

“I understand that Bubba wrecked himself trying to get Carson off the road. He didn’t give up, kept driving out there and ultimately wrecked himself and others because of it. That’s what I believe.”

Denny Hamlin on Bubba Wallace driving at Carson Hocevar at Martinsville

On a restart with 77 laps to go in the Cook Out 400, Hocevar made an aggressive move by going under Wallace in the corner to make it three-wide. The No. 23 driver, who felt his car was performing poorly after showing a lot of pace in practice, seemed to be upset by the move.

On the next lap, Wallace passed his car to the No. 77 and then passed him again into the corner. Hocevar’s car spun, taking out other cars along with it, while the No. 23 car suffered damage late in the race, resulting in a 36th-place finish.

Hamlin also addressed Hocevar’s actions leading up to the incident, which is not uncommon in NASCAR, but is generally viewed as a ‘d***’ move.

RELATED: Carson Hocevar Addresses Comparisons to NASCAR Legend

“It’s normally an ad*** move, if everybody is restarting in Turn 1 on the restart, everybody has to check for the corner, OK? If you’re in row 8, you’re normally checking for turn 1 as quickly as possible. It’s like going into Turn 1 at COTA where someone is just like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to the left and if you guys are going to check-up, I Going to jam it in there. Carson says I’m going to go three-wide again down the stretch in Martinsville. This is not illegal, it is just an ad*** move.”

Denny Hamlin on Carson Hocevar’s actions leading to contact with Bubba Wallace

That doesn’t mean Hamlin condoned Wallace’s actions, which cost the No. 23 team double-digit points and dropped to 11th in points. Instead, it is the future Hall of Famer who explains the specific move that further incensed Wallace and why Hocevar’s move was responded to with hostile action.

Hocevar has driven like this since coming to the Cup Series, and he has made it clear that he is willing to do anything to win. Wallace, at age 32, is an experienced driver whose emotions ultimately only hurt himself and harmed teammates who were not involved in the incident.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was exactly what you’d expect from Virginia’s iconic short track. While the focus today is always on the winner of the NASCAR race, we also wanted to provide some analysis on how other drivers and teams performed at Martinsville this afternoon.

Let’s take a look at our winners and losers from the Cook Out 400.

Winner: Denny Hamlin

Complete dominance. Denny Hamlin went nearly pole-to-pole in the Cook Out 400 and could have scored maximum points with 76–20 points for the stage win, 55 for winning the race, and 1 point for fastest lap – if not for a late caution due to a wreck on Ty Dillon’s car. This allowed Chase Elliott’s pit strategy to completely pay off; Otherwise, this would have been a race that Hamlin would have won in historic fashion. Hamlin did not get a win in the Cook Out 400, but he left Martinsville with the most points (56) that day and led 292 laps. Agreed that he would be sad if he did not win.

RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series all-time win list

Loser: Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is fed up with Richard Childress Racing and his time spent in the No. 8 car. That became abundantly clear after qualifying on Saturday, when his tone reflected that of a driver who knew the No. 8 car had no chance of being competitive after finishing 34th. Late in Stage 1 he fell and then at his first pit stop, Busch opted to drive through a wheel that came loose and bounced off the front of his car. Busch has now gone 100 consecutive races without a Cup Series win and it’s clear he’s counting down the days until he can join a new team.

Connected: What happened to Kyle Busch’s winless streak, 100-race drought

Winner: Ty Gibbs

Five consecutive top-10 finishes for Ty Gibbs. In fact, it’s even better than that, as his worst finishing position was sixth at Darlington last Sunday. The No. 54 car finished in the top four for the second time in the last three races and Gibbs demonstrated his ability to make the most of it, scoring the second-most stage points (16) at the Cook Out 400. Clearly, Gibbs is performing much like Chase Briscoe did at No. 19 last season. More about them later.

Connected: NASCAR standings today, Cup Series points leaders after Martinsville

Loser: Richard Childress Racing

Why does Richard Childress Racing even run a third car at this point? It’s clear they don’t have the ability to put Kyle Busch in any position to be competitive and with the win-and-playoff system gone, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 team are irrelevant for the season. In Sunday’s Cook Out 400, RCR had Austin Hill in the No. 33 car (part-time) and he spent the majority of the race leading several laps. In fact, we have to wonder if NASCAR’s top prospect Jesse Love would be better off pursuing a full-time Cup ride with another team since RCR has nothing to offer.

Connected: Best NASCAR Races 2026, Ranking Every Cup Series Race This Season

Winner: Shane van Gisbergen

Performing so well in the Cook Out 400 had a lot to do with qualifying, considering how little passing was on Sunday. This is still something for which Shane van Gisbergen deserves credit, as he achieved a season’s best fifth place in qualifying. This is even better than his starting position at COTA (13th) a few weeks ago. SVG needed a solid point total after recording a total of 24 points in his last two races and he accomplished that at Martinsville, while continuing to show that he is getting better at the ovals.

RELATED: Official 2026 Cook Out 400 results at Martinsville Speedway

Loser: Bubba Wallace

Silly. Bubba Wallace didn’t have a good race at Martinsville, but he was at least in position to finish in the top 20 for a good points day. Considering the points the 23rd-ranked team has earned this season, it would have been fine to keep them in the top seven. Instead, inexplicably, Wallace decided to hit the throttle and drive straight into Carson Hocevar not once but twice. Karma took care of the No. 23 car with race-ending damage, but Wallace’s actions are inexcusable and his immaturity caused damage to several other cars because he could not control his emotions. This felt like an older version of Wallace, and if he’s back after just two bad races, 23XI Racing has a problem beyond just an eight-place drop in the points.

Winner: Chase Elliott

Did some good luck help crew chief Alan Gustafson’s pit strategy succeed? Definitely. However, that’s also a gamble you can take when you have a driver of Chase Elliott’s caliber behind the wheel of the No. 9 car. The team did not score any stage points on Sunday at Martinsville, but an early pit stop and fresh tires gave Elliott a car he could drive further. The caution ended well for him, but you also have to give Elliott credit for how he controlled traffic on the final laps and didn’t give Hamlin a real chance to take the lead. Elliott gave Hendrick Motorsports its first win of the season and it looks great for the team too.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starting lineup for Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway has been set, but for a different reason than usual. Due to weather in the area, qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s NFPA 250 has been canceled, and that means the lineup for Saturday’s race has been mathematically determined.

Let’s dive into the NFPA 250 starting lineups after metric scores determined the grid due to rain in NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Because there was no qualifying, the metric score prevents Dawson Cram and Justin Carroll from qualifying for the 38-car race.

RELATED: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts standings before Saturday

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starting lineup Martinsville

NFPA 250 Starting Grid

RELATED: NASCAR Predictions Martinsville

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson