Heartbreak for underdog racer Tommy Joe Martins. The driver and his No. 44 Martins Motorsports team opted to take new tires during the lap 35 competition caution, which put him at a huge advantage over the rest of the field, who had stayed out on old tires.
With eight laps left in Stage 1, Martins worked his way around AJ Allmendinger for the race lead.
With a certain Stage Win in sight, Martins got a massive block from the lapped car of David Starr in the No. 66 MBM Motorsports machine off of the final set of turns on the final lap of the Stage.
What a finish to Stage 1!@AJDinger passes Tommy Joe Martins! #NASCAR x #XfinitySeries pic.twitter.com/xskEY1Oeou
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 11, 2021
This gave Allmendinger another chance to gas it up off of turn 4. Allmendinger would have the momentum and would snag the Stage win.
For Starr, the big block kept his No. 66 car on the lead lap heading into Stage 2.
Following the ending of the Stage, according to @RacingUnderdogs on Twitter, Martins cued his team radio and said, “Are you kidding me? That was still a lot of fun, sorry I didn’t win it but that was unbelievable. Sorry guys, I probably should have just wrecked the guy.”
