MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Chandler Smith slapped Cole Custer on pit road after Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Martinsville Speedway.
Smith was upset with the way Custer confronted him late in the event. Custer qualified for next week’s Championship 4 race, while Smith did not.
After the race, Smith and Custer stopped next to each other on pit road. Smith walked towards Custer. After a brief discussion, Smith slapped Custer.
Smith had to win to advance. He was second when there was a caution with less than 25 laps left in the 250-lap race. He got there after knocking out Custer.
When the caution was lifted, Custer was in third. Custer lined up directly behind Smith on the outside lane for the restart, then hit Smith in the rear bumper and sent him onto the track.
“It’s true, I hurt him a few times this year and I owned up to it and I reached out to him and I apologized and I made amends and all that,” Smith said. “At that point I beat his bumper for five rounds. I never dispatched him and then finally I dispatched him.
“The caution came out, he got behind me and didn’t even give me a chance to enter turn 1. I understand, but at the end of the day I thought it’s was a small (expletive) gesture, honestly.” “.
Custer said, “I guess he’s crazy, but what goes around goes around. Ultimately, he put us on the fence a few times this year. He used his bumper on me, so I used my bumper on him. That’s how you go racing for a championship and you end up in these situations. I don’t mind doing that to him because he did it to me.
This is the second time the two have met in the playoffs. Custer was unhappy with the way Smith drove him at Kansas and expressed his feelings after that race on pit road.
Smith said he does not have a vehicle for next season and is unsure if he will drive.
Before Saturday’s race, Smith wrote on fun I’ve had racing in years.
