Chandler Smith: Driver, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Rackley Roofing 200, Race 12 of 22, 150 Laps – 45/50/55; 199.5 Miles
Location: Nashville Superspeedway (1.33-mile D-shaped oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 18, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Mr. Smith Goes to Music City:
- Chandler Smith and the No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass team head to Nashville Superspeedway this week for the Rackley Roofing 200. Smith comes into Friday night’s 150-lap event with the momentum of back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time this season. Smith crossed the finish line at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday with what appeared to be his second consecutive sixth-place finish, but after the third-place finisher was disqualified in post-race technical inspection, he was officially credited with a fifth-place result. At Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, the Georgia native sustained significant damage to the right rear quarter panel and bumper during an incident just before the halfway mark of the race but was able to battle back to a sixth-place result.
- Friday’s race will mark the first time that the Camping World Truck Series has raced at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete oval, since July of 2011. Smith’s crew chief, Danny Stockman, called the shots for Austin Dillon’s victory in that race. Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) earned its first-ever Camping World Truck Series victory at the Tennessee track in April of 2010 with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel. Busch also was victorious there in April of 2011.
- While Smith has never made a start at Nashville Superspeedway, he has been a fixture at the prestigious All-American 400 weekend held at Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway, a half-mile oval, since 2015. Smith competed in the Pro Late Model race as a 13-year-old his first year and then graduated to the Super Late Models in 2014. Smith has never won the prestigious race but has finished second each of the last two years.
- Over the last two events, Smith gained two positions in the Camping World Trucks point standings and moved himself above the cutoff line for the playoffs. While he currently sits 11th in the standings, Grant Enfinger missed one race and is not eligible for the playoffs, moving Smith up to 10th on the playoff grid. With four races remaining in the regular season, the 18-year-old driver sits eight points ahead of Johnny Sauter for the coveted 10th and final playoff spot.
- Across 11 starts this season, Smith has two top-five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 17.7. He produced a season-best result of fourth at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in April. He sits second in Rookie of the Year standings, 36 points behind Carson Hocevar. Smith has earned the rookie of the race award five times this season. The Toyota Racing Development driver has 10 top-five, and 13 top-10 finishes across 27 career Camping World Truck Series starts, including a career-best runner-up finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2019.
- Veteran crew chief Danny Stockman will call the shots for Smith and the No. 18 team this season. Stockman led the No. 51 team to four wins in his first season atop the pit box at KBM in 2020. He came to the organization with experience as a crew chief in all three national series, including a Truck Series championship with Austin Dillon in 2011 and an Xfinity Series championship with Dillon in 2013. Stockman’s Camping World Truck Series drivers have one win, two top-five and two top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 7.0 across four starts at Nashville. Stockman called the shots for Dillon’s victory in the Music City in July of 2011.
- Safelite AutoGlass – the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement, and recalibration services – will be the primary sponsor of Smith’s Tundra this weekend at Nashville and for 15 races total this season. Smith General Contracting and Fairfield Residential will be associate partners on the bedtop of the No. 18 Toyota for Friday’s 150-lap event.
Chandler Smith, Driver Q&A:
Not many drivers in the field have experience at Nashville. Do you think that will even the playing field?
“For sure. Also, having practice and everything I feel like will definitely level the field, but also, everyone kind of has the same experience level going into the race. Going there with my Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, I am really confident that we are going to have a really strong truck.”
You have two straight top-10 finishes. Do you feel like the momentum is shifting in favor of the Safelite team?
“I was telling Danny that I feel like our momentum has been building up and slowly progressing like it needs to be. Now, we are plus eight in the playoffs. As long as we get locked in and make the first round, I feel like all this momentum leading up the playoffs is really going to show, but it’s just about making it there.”
Nashville gives out the Gibson guitar trophy. Do you have any trophies that stand out?
“I feel like the time I won the ARCA race at Iowa. It was a pretty neat trophy. It was nothing to spectacular, but I thought it was pretty neat. Definitely adding a guitar to my trophy case would be really nice.”
Nashville is the home of country music. If you could trade spots with a country music star or band, who would it be?
“Definitely Blake Shelton. He’s a really down to earth guy. He is a country roots singer. I love when it comes to the roots of racing. I definitely love my country music.”
Chandler Smith Career Highlights:
- Across 27 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts has recorded 139 laps led, 10 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.5.
- Posted an average finish of 7.7 across his final seven of 12 total Truck Series starts in 2020, including third-place finishes in the series finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and his first career superspeedway start at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October.
- Produced three top-five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.2 across his first four career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2019. He led 55 laps and finished eighth in his Gander Trucks debut at Iowa Speedway last July and then posted top-five finishes in his final three starts, including a runner-up finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
- Has collected nine wins, 10 poles, 1761 laps led, 22 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes en route to an average finish of 5.2 across 33 career ARCA Menards Series starts. Set an ARCA Racing Series record by winning four consecutive poles to start his career and earned his first victory after leading a race-high 102 laps at Madison (Wis.) International Speedway in his fourth series start.
- Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Tundra:
- KBM-063: The No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass team will unload chassis number KBM-063 for Friday’s 150-lap event at Nashville. It’s the same Tundra that Smith drove to an 11th-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City earlier this season. KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch drove KBM-63 to its lone victory across six starts last June at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, two poles, 271 laps led, two top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.8 across five starts in the Music City.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch’s earned his organization its first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in April of 2010 and also was victorious there in April of 2011.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (87) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Martin Truex Jr. became the 16th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 18, the number which was on the first Tundra that went to victory lane for KBM in 2010, has 21 career victories.
