Drivers react to anticlimactic NASCAR race at Martinsville
New York TimesMARTINSVILLE, Va. — Standing on pit road, Denny Hamlin was mid-explanation when he paused to look at the track. Many teams anticipated as much coming into the weekend, believing NASCAR’s new Next Gen car would struggle to adapt to the half-mile short track. “Any time it’s below 40 degrees, I’d say, the tires don’t even lay rubber,” race winner William Byron said. “That was definitely a factor all night.” But it wasn’t just the lack of rubber on the track that contributed to a lackluster race by Martinsville standards, numerous drivers and crew chiefs said afterward. We’re learning, we’re trying to get better, but no idea of how you fix this thing right now.” Hamlin chose his words carefully so as not to say something he’d regret, but he was direct about NASCAR and teams needing to collaborate to find ways to improve the quality of racing on tracks like Martinsville, Richmond and Phoenix.
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