Kevin Harvick calls for NASCAR to ‘drop the hammer’ after Xfinity Series race at Martinsville

After Saturday’s much-criticized Xfinity Series race at Martinsville, Kevin Harvick believes it’s time for NASCAR to “drop the hammer.” Speaking on his “Happy Hour” podcast, called for more accountability if a driver intentionally wrecks another competitor during the race.

"I'd love to see NASCAR drop the hammer."@KevinHarvick has some thoughts on the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/8aelfXY2Ah

— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) April 1, 2025

“We would like to have our penalties issued during the race. I think that is something that needs to be addressed pretty quickly in the Xfinity and Truck Series to teach these two divisions how to race correctly. They don’t even really care. They don’t even really care what they say, they don’t care what they do,” Harvick said. “I know when I was their age, I would do the same things, but my ass would be in the trailer getting my ass reamed out by Mike Helton, with Jim Hunter standing outside the door laughing, and Bill France Jr. wanted to know when I was going to get suspended because made a mockery out of our show. And that’s what that was.

“It was an absolute disaster. And I don’t understand why we don’t get involved from an officiating standpoint in the Trucks and Xfinity. I’m not saying anything about Cup, and I hate rules. I think we have too many rules, too many things that we have to keep track of. But at what point do we draw the line and say, ‘All right, we have done this way too long. We look like a bunch of idiots. And we need to officiate the rough driving because they don’t think that it’s wrong.’ There’s nobody to teach them.

“So, they just go out and run over each other all the time, and then they just keep running over each other. So, I’d love to see NASCAR drop the hammer. You spend somebody out, you go to the back. You wreck somebody like that, we’re gonna put you to the back of the lead lap, and on Wednesday, we might do something else.”

NASCAR veterans scold Xfinity Series drivers after Martinsville chaos

Contact was plentiful between drivers in Saturday’s race. In total, there were 102 caution laps. Only 11 Xfinity races have had more than 100 caution laps, according to Seth Eggert of Motorsports Reference. But perhaps nothing was more egregious than Sammy Smith‘s conduct on the final lap of the race.

Smith slammed into race-leader Taylor Gray on the final corner, taking them both out of contention and allowing Austin Hill to drive by to take the checkered flag. Smith slid across the start/finish line 10th, while Gray finished 29th. The two drivers exchanged words after the race and had to be separated before things turned physical. 

Several NASCAR veterans such as Denny Hamlin expressed their frustration with the lack of respect shown in Xfinity. FOX Sports commentator Mike Joy went as far as to call the race a “dumpster fire” during Sunday’s Cup broadcast.

Harvick’s son Keelan is making a name for himself in late model stock cars. The 2014 Cup champion revealed he had a conversation with Keelan after what transpired in Saturday’s race.

“Right now, it is just no accountability for the correct way to race,” Harvick said. “And I had to go home and sit my 12-year-old down after the race and tell him, ‘Hey look, if I catch your ass doing anything like this, if I see anything like this, you’re gonna probably sit on the bench because this is wrong.’ And right now, there’s nobody to tell these kids that that’s wrong.”