NASCAR star Lavar Scott could not hide his anger towards fellow driver Sammy Smith following Saturday's crash at Martinsville Speedway, demanding that his team tell Smith to "personally shut up".

Scott, 23, was running in the middle of the field entering turn 1 on lap 37 of the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race when Smith, who had recently pitted, aggressively dove to the inside on a restart.

Smith, 22, who was fighting for track position in the middle of the field in the No. 8 JR Motorsports car, drove straight through Ryan Ellis's No. 02 and tagged the side of Scott's No. 45 vehicle, sending the latter into a spin.

The resulting chain reaction collected several other drivers, most notably championship contender Corey Day, whom Scott spun directly into, while Brent Crews and Ryan Ellis also sustained damage in the ensuing stack-up.

Every car involved in the crash managed to drive away, though Scott, a rookie driving the No. 45 for Alpha Prime Racing, ended up finishing 18th in a race won by Carson Kvapil.

Immediately after the incident in the National Debt Relief 250, Scott was left in a fit of rage. Despite being informed of Smith's apology, he made sure to convey his anger to the JR Motorsports star.

"Tell him I said 'shut up.' Tell him I said, right now, 'shut up,'" Scott fumed back to his team after they had relayed Smith's apology over the radio, as per The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi.

"Don't ever apologize to me again, ever. This is the second time. Tell him I personally said, 'shut up,'" Scott added.

It is not yet clear which specific past race or incident Scott was referencing, but it ultimately stems from a history of frustration between the two drivers or with overly aggressive moves on restarts.

Smith has a history of controversial incidents at Martinsville, notably when he drove into the rear of race leader Taylor Gray's No. 54 Toyota as they entered Turn 3 on the final lap of overtime in March 2025, sending Gray spinning and handing Austin Hill the win.

Scott's comment, however, may not have been directly aimed at Smith, but rather at a similar incident that took place earlier in the season, when he was spun out on the backstretch during the March 7 race at Phoenix with 35 laps to go by Anthony Alfredo.

Nonetheless, NASCAR issued no official penalties for the crash at Martinsville on Saturday, as it was ultimately ruled a racing incident stemming from an overaggressive restart, but Lavar gained support from NASCAR fans online following the race.

"Good on @LavarScott!! Stick up for yourself over these guys!," one person wrote on X. "I do love stock cars (not sports cars) at Martinsville. Get his a--, Lavar," said another.