PHOENIX (Nov. 13, 2011) — The Valley of the Sun clouded over early for Regan Smith, who was involved in a second-lap accident in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway.
The incident was costly for Smith who finished 38th, his second-worst result of the season.
The concerns that every driver faced with the newly-paved track surface came to reality for Smith early as he and David Ragan got tangled in Turn 3 as the 43-car field was completing Lap 2 of 312.
“It wasn’t a good deal and it’s really frustrating because based on our practice sessions we were confident of producing a strong result today for Furniture Row Racing,” said Smith. “It hasn’t been a good year for us in Phoenix, we also got involved in an accident here in the second race of the season (finished 34th).”
After spinning and crashing into the wall, Smith was able to drive the No. 78 Chevrolet to the garage where the Furniture Row crew immediately went to work to repair the heavy damage. Smith was able to get back on track on Lap 125, but only could complete another 60 laps before retiring from the race.
“It was basically a race-ending accident on Lap 2,” noted Smith. “It looks like some other cars also had trouble today. We have one more race to show our mettle.”
Other drivers who had atypical results were: Kyle Busch (36th), Matt Kenseth (34th) and Jeff Gordon (32nd).
The race winner was Kasey Kahne. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Ryan Newman.
The final race of the season is Sunday (Nov. 20) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
