Long: Martinsville Cup race leaves drivers seeking changes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The lasting image of this weekend’s action at Martinsville Speedway will be the punches Ty Gibbs threw at Sam Mayer after Friday’s Xfinity Series race.

That will overshadow what happened in Saturday’s Cup race — even with the feel-good moment of William Byron celebrating the win with his mom a year after she had a stroke-like event at this race.

It’s just that Martinsville often builds an anticipation of close racing, passing, beating and banging and drama at the end. While Saturday’s Cup race went to overtime, this might be an event that fades into track’s storied history.

Saturday’s Cup race had five lead changes among four drivers. Chase Elliott led the first 185 laps, and Byron led the next 118 before green-flag pit stops. He regained the point and went on to lead the final 43 laps. That was it.

“I know, certainly, we want to put on a better product than that,” Denny Hamlin said of the racing with the Next Gen car after finishing 28th.

A combination of factors led to the type of racing fans saw — or didn’t see. The race featured only four cautions, including two for stage breaks. 

With temperatures hovering around 40 degrees during the night race, tire wear was not an issue.

“Anytime it’s below 40 degrees I’d say, the tires don’t even lay rubber,” Byron said. “That was definitely a factor all night.”

Ryan Blaney said after finishing fourth that more work can be done with the tires. 

“The left sides just don’t wear on this car,” he said. “That’s just kind of how it is, so I know they’ve been playing around with softer lefts and things like that, so go for it. I mean, go way softer, especially on the lefts and see where it gets you.”

While Ross Chastain finished fifth after starting 27th, drivers