RIDGEWAY, Va. — Chandler Smith literally went down swinging on Saturday evening (Nov. 2).
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had to win the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway, the last race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8, in order to make the Championship 4. Instead, he finished third and won’t be racing for a championship Nov. 9 at Phoenix Raceway.
Smith may have had a shot at getting to eventual winner Aric Almirola, but on a late restart, Cole Custer got into the back of the No. 81 and sent him up the racetrack. The duo had raced each other aggressively prior to the contact as well as after, with Smith moving Custer out the way for the spot just prior to the caution that preceded his ill-fated restart.
“He thought he was in a must-win for the owners — which he was,” Smith said. “… I get that his dad [Joe Custer] has some high-up role at SHR [Stewart-Haas Racing], so he probably values that a lot. But at the end of the day, I’m a driver. I’m in a must-win situation. He was not at that moment, and he didn’t even try to make the corner.
“Granted, I moved him the lap before, but I’m beating his bumper off for the five laps before that. I gave him grace before I finally shipped him, and then he doesn’t even try to give me a chance going into turn 1.”
On pit road after the race was over, Smith walked over to the No. 00 car. He and Custer had a heated exchange, leading to Smith swinging at Custer’s head. Both crews quickly jumped in and separated the drivers before things escalated further.
“I guess he’s mad, but what comes around goes around,” Custer said. “At the end of the day, he put us in the fence a few times this year. He used his bumper on me, so I used my bumper on him.
“It is what it is. You go and race for a championship, and you’re put in these situations. I don’t mind doing it to him because he’s done it to me.”
Smith and Custer also had words on pit road at Kansas Speedway in September when Smith cut off the No. 00 while completing a pass.
“He kept us from winning a race, I feel like, at Kansas,” Custer said. “He used the bumper on me, so I used the bumper on him. I don’t know how we’re not even, and then he punches me in the face. I can’t even tell if he really punched me in the face. It…
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