The only thing that matters in auto racing is getting to the checkered flag before everyone else. How that is done, it seems, has become increasingly less important.

As racing season winds down, championships are being decided and frustrations are boiling over.

This past weekend, major incidents erupted near the end of several races. The response to those clashes and in some cases the clashes themselves demonstrate a lack of sportsmanship, which begs the question of whether that trait has a place in a sport focused entirely on winning.

The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race in Martinsville, VA, on Sunday devolved into a slugfest as soon the flagman reached for the checkered flag. A late-race caution for Carl Long’s spin bunched the field and began a series of events that left dozens of cars battered and bruised.

On the ensuing restart, Brad Keselowski scooted away from the field, but trouble was brewing deeper in the field. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano made contact exiting one of the paperclip-shaped turns, pushing a fender into the tire of the No. 22.

When Logano eventually spun with a flat rear tire, things got worse.

On the next restart, Chase Elliott drove deep into the corner, and knowing that he did not have a car capable of competing against Keselowski’s, Elliott doored him and shoved him out of the groove. That slowed Elliott’s progress enough to allow Denny Hamlin to get to his back bumper. On the next lap, Hamlin hit Elliott hard enough to wreck the No. 24.

One more caution brought on another restart. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Busch now battled for the lead, and once again it was contact that provided a new leader. Eventually Busch got to the checkered flag first, and with his win, he secured an automatic berth to the championship round of NASCAR’s playoffs.

Contact was not limited to the leading drivers. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney ran into one another on and off track several times during the afternoon. Teammates David Ragan and Landon Cassill spun after avoidable contact, and the front bumper was employed more heavily in the First Data 500 than ever before during the season.

None of the passes described were clean examples of racing ability.

After the race, Elliott drove into the side of Hamlin’s car. The two drivers exited their dented machines and argued, but no blows were exchanged.

Tempers flare under the lights. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/3c1HwdYI6W

— #NASCARPlayoffs (@NASCAR) October 29, 2017

The same could not be said regarding an incident between Dirt Modified racers Kyle Strickler and David Stremme on Saturday in Charlotte, NC.

In a UMP DIRTcar Modified All-Star race, Strickler made what appeared a clean pass on Stremme. On the next straightaway, Stremme pinched Strickler into the wall. Strickler’s car wedged underneath Stremme’s and the two were unable to drive away. Only Stremme knows if that was intentional, but Strickler took umbrage, exited his jacked-up car, and punched his foe through the driver’s side window.

In an interview with FloRacing, Strickler detailed the building frustration between the two drivers following a failed business relationship in 2015 as the reason for the contact.

Here’s a look at the incident
between @DavidStremme and @Highsidetickler during the @SummitRacing Modified All Star race at @OneDirt #WSTC pic.twitter.com/U5GC4W1rys

— DIRTcar Racing (@DIRTcar_Racing) October 29, 2017

That same evening, late-race contact between Cade Dillard and “Black Jack” Sullivan turned particularly ugly when one driver decided to use his car as a weapon. 

After getting spun from contention, Sullivan drove the wrong way down the track at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS, during an unsanctioned Late Model event. The nose of his car acted like a wedge and flipped Dillard onto his roof. And while no one was reportedly injured, the incident could very well have ended in tragedy.

So, how much is too much?

Race fans know that a certain amount of aggression is required and there is going to be a level of avoidable contact on the tight confines of a short track as drivers attempt to make a pass. But when intentional physical damage is inflicted, that steps over a line that should be firmly traced in the ground.

Incidents like these detract from the skill required to race. Passing is not about, and should never be about, driving just hard enough to get to another car’s back bumper. There is an artistry to racing that many outside the sport fail to appreciate, and while incidents like the Hamlin vs. Elliott, Stickler vs. Stremme, and Sullivan vs. Dillard provide dramatic film clips, they are not what make the sport entertaining for most fans.

For the record, Hamlin seemed to understand this with a written apology to Elliott.