Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at Martinsville featured some fireworks on and off the track. While Brandon Jones came out on top in a double overtime finish, tensions boiled over after the race between Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer, which led to punches getting thrown and Mayer having a shiner under his left eye.
The two drivers approached one another, at which point Gibbs shoved Mayer, who took off his helmet. While Gibbs looked like he wanted to walk away, Mayer went up to him to continue the confrontation, which led to more pushing and shoving before Gibbs threw a few punches that connected with Mayer’s face. While the two were eventually separated, Mayer was understandably not happy that another person just punched him several times.
THE BOYS ARE THROWING DOWN pic.twitter.com/Ht9d574K80
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) April 9, 2022
Reporters managed to catch up with Mayer after and get his side of the story.
Sam Mayer gives his side of the story about the tangle with Ty Gibbs: pic.twitter.com/61YVXcf1wW
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 9, 2022
“$100,000 on the line, put the bumper to him because that’s what short track racing’s all about, and he got upset,” Mayer said before making baby noises to relay what Gibbs said. “It’s short track racing and all that nonsense, so, whatever. He threw a couple punches, they were weak, so I can’t say much about that, it’s kinda funny. I just put the bumper to him for $100,000 and he got upset about it, but he’s been doing that to everyone else every week so far.”
Mayer went on to say that, because Gibbs kept his helmet on during the confrontation, “obviously, he was scared about something, or he had it in his mind to throw a punch the whole time.” While one can appreciate that sentiment, all of us at Uproxx Sports must advise that if you are ever wearing a helmet and an altercation could potentially break out, do not take your helmet off under any circumstances.
Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/ty-gibbs-sam-mayer-nascar-fight-video/
