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The Martinsville race brought some interesting moments, especially the clash between Chandler Smith and Cole Custer. The two of them had a run-in during the race. At one point, Smith used the rear of his car to get past Custer, but Custer quickly retaliated by pushing Smith off the track. It was clear that things were about to get chaotic.
After the race, Smith was furious and immediately went after Custer, throwing a punch. What’s even more interesting is Custer’s reaction; he just laughed it off and walked away. Looking at the situation, Custer is probably feeling pretty good since he’s moving on to Phoenix.
Martinsville has had its share of moments like this in the past, but not many people expected things to go this way. Now, Custer is in the Championship 4. After all the incidents, he spoke to the media, expressing pride in his team and their fighting spirit, and he admitted he’s excited about Phoenix. Regarding Smith’s punch, he felt it was just part of the cycle.
“What comes around goes around in this deal,” Custer said, as quoted by On3.
“I’m so proud of this team and we brought out everything we had today. Kept us in the fight, you know. … Just can’t thank Gene Haas, everybody at Haas Automation, Ford Performance. Can’t wait to go to Phoenix now and see what we can do.”
Custer explained that he feels the situation is what it is. He pointed out that Smith had put him into the wall a few times this year and had kept him from winning a race in Kansas. Custer mentioned that they had both used their bumpers on each other during the race. He didn’t understand why things felt uneven between them. When it came to the punch, he remarked that it didn’t even feel like a real hit; it was so soft that he could barely tell it happened. But eventually, he’s focused on moving forward to Phoenix.
Cole Custer wants to provoke Smith even more, frustrated by Smith's behavior on NASCAR tracks. However, his statements are focused not on Fenix and the result he was waiting for. The 26-year-old will have a chance to make an even bigger climb in the next races, and it will be very interesting to see how he will fare in the next race.
Chandler Smith: I was planning to do a lot more
Many were curious about Smith's reaction to the punch. The 22-year-old NASCAR driver was feeling a lot of emotions regarding this race and was disappointed with how Custer handled things during it. In a media interview, he admitted that his response could have been even more extreme, but he managed to calm down to some extent.
Smith explained how he viewed the situation, recognizing how important this race was for both of them, not just for himself. At one point, he wanted to seize the opportunity and use his momentum to move forward, but Custer disrupted his plans.
“I was planning to do a lot more than that to be completely frank with you, I was extremely pissed off,” Smith said.
“I gave him five laps before that before that caution came out, beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything like that. Then finally it’s like alright, the laps are winding down. I’m in a must-win, the 20’s starting to drive away. He was really good all day. Ican’t waste any more time with him. So, I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the race track and went on our way. But I gave him a chance for five laps before that, right?"- he continued.
Smith stressed that Custer was the first driver all day to choose the outside lane from third place, which he found interesting. However, when they reached the first turn, Custer didn’t give him any chance to make the corner. Interestingly, during the restart that followed, Custer ended up right behind him again, which Smith found quite ironic.
After the race, Custer expressed that he felt Smith had taken the win from him. However, Smith views things differently, believing that Custer’s perspective doesn’t align with his own and that Custer had more at stake in the situation. It will be interesting to see what the 26-year-old can do in the next race and whether Smith’s comments will serve as motivation for him in the future and the challenges ahead.
The clash between these two young drivers highlights just how driven and eager they both are to win. Sometimes, that intense desire for victory can lead to such a situations.
English (US)