Brandon Jones Upsets at Martinsville as Brawl Unfolds

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR

Brandon Jones Wins Martinsville, Gibbs and Mayer Fight Post-Race

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Friday night was a barnburner for the Xfinity Series, as there was an upset winner, 16 cautions, and fisticuffs after the checkers. While Brandon Jones is the big winner, all focus post-race was on Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer. The two teenagers restarted as the leaders in double-overtime but both ended up on the losing end. The 1 and 54 exchanged contact on multiple occasions on-track, which turned into punches thrown on pit road.

Joe Gibbs Racing would sweep both Stages, as Ty Gibbs and Brandon Jones both took a green-checkered flag. This race would be sent into overtime after a spin involving Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt would however recover to finish 11th.

On the next restart, a parking lot would unfold into turn one, as Sam Mayer was turned into Noah Gragson. This massive pileup led to a lengthy cleanup and red flag.

On the second overtime attempt, Brandon Jones got to Gibbs’ inside after the white flag. It was here where Sam Mayer made contact with Gibbs, putting the 54 out of contention. Coming to the checkers, Mayer and Gibbs both found the outside wall while Jones edged out the victory.

“What a day,” Brandon Jones exclaimed after the race. “I can’t say that we could have played it out any better. I love the call we made to get Stage points, drove the thing all the way from the back to the front, and had older tires than all those guys there at the end. This is a driver’s racetrack right here, I’ve won at a lot of different places now, and this is one that you have to get after it. Ty (Gibbs) ran a really hard race, can’t believe he cleared me there really early in Stage 3, he had a strong GR Supra as well. Fun to beat him! He’s hot right now, tough to beat, so that’s a good one.”

Behind Jones were Kaulig teammates Landon Cassill and AJ Allmendinger. Second is Cassill’s best career finish, while third gets Allmendinger the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus. Other top finishers included Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Sieg, and Jeremy Clements.

Teenagers Start Post-Race Pileup

Tempers definitely flew on pit road after the checkers between the two teenagers who took themselves out of the win. Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs initially had a conversation, that quickly turned to punches and a mass of team members and officials. One NASCAR official was injured in this melee, as he was carted off on a stretcher.

Hear reactions from after the altercation from both Gibbs and Mayer below. Some of the top finisher’s post-race comments are also below.

After an Easter off week, the Xfinity Series will return to action at Talladega Superspeedway. The Ag-Pro 300 will go green at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Saturday, April 23. Can another upset winner find victory on the Alabama track?

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR