The fans at Martinsville on NASCAR weekends rank up there with the smartest in the sport. They know the story behind every rivalry and Silly Season development. They remember old incidents every bit as well as the combatants do.
So, when the crowd twice let loose with cascades of boos, first during Ty Gibbs’ on-track interview and then during the Victory Lane ceremony, they had facts backing them up, beginning with knowing Brandon Jones needed to win.
Josh Berry and Noah Gragson had already won their way into the Championship 4, and Gibbs was far enough ahead in points that he clinched his berth after the second stage. Jones started the race 38 points behind primary target AJ Allmendinger, so beating the field to the checkered flag was going to have to be his path to the Championship 4.
Jones was competitive throughout in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, leading on six occasions for a combined 98 laps. However, the last 75 laps on the half-mile track were messy, with the caution flag coming out nine times, including for multiple overtime restarts.
The last several of those restarts placed Jones and Gibbs either side-by-side or in close proximity, and Gibbs simply refused to cut Jones a break. Jones bumped his teammate on Turn 1 of the final restart to gain position. When they came back to that corner for a final time, Gibbs punted Jones and raced to the win while Jones fell to 23rd place and elimination from the playoffs.
Leave a Reply