Chandler Smith: Driver, No. 18 JBL® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: BrakeBest Brake Pads 159, Race 2 of 22, 44 Laps – 12/13/19; 158.85 Miles
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course (3.61-mile, 14-turn road course)
Date/Broadcast: Feb. 19, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Mr. Smith Goes Road Course Racing:
- Chandler Smith will make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series road course start behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ (KBM) No. 18 JBL Tundra in Friday night’s BrakeBest Brake Pads 159 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. While it will be his first road course event in the Camping World Trucks, Smith finished ninth in last year’s ARCA Menards Series race at the 14-turn road course. The racing prodigy also traveled north of the border in August 2019 to compete in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont., where he qualified 11th but had to retire mid-race due to electrical issues.
- The 18-year-old Georgia native will compete for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in 2021 after competing in a part-time schedule for KBM each of the last two seasons. Smith opened his rookie campaign with an impressive performance in his first time racing at Daytona International Speedway. The talented teenager started sixth, finished inside the top 10 in all three stages and had the Safelite Tundra out front for a race-high 22 laps before finishing ninth.
- Smith’s performance at Daytona last week has him sitting fourth in the Camping World Trucks championship standings after one event, 14 tallies behind points leader Ben Rhodes. He leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by five points over Carson Hocevar.
- The Toyota Development Driver has finished inside the top five in eight of his 17 career Camping World Truck Series starts, including a career-best runner-up finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2019. Smith 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.
- The talented teenager recorded nine wins, 10 poles and an average finish of 5.3 across 33 ARCA Menards Series starts the last three seasons. He captured the pole in his series debut at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville (Tenn.) in April of 2018 and set an ARCA Menards Series record by winning four consecutive poles to start his career. He earned his first victory at Madison (Wis.) International Speedway in just his fourth series start in June of 2018. Despite running a part-time schedule, he led the series in laps led in both 2018 and 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 XFINITY Series drivers totaled seven wins and 19 poles from 2012 to 2018 and after last season his Truck Series totals stand at eight wins and 13 poles.
- Stockman was paired with Alex Tagliani for last year’s inaugural race at the Daytona Road Course. Tagliani started from the 21st position but registered an average running position of 10.02 and was running third with just over 10 laps remaining before late-race troubles relegated him to a 22nd-place finish.
- JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, will be the primary sponsor for the No. 18 team this week at the Daytona Road Course. Safelite AutoGlass – the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement, and recalibration services – returns to Smith’s when the Camping World Truck Series resumes action March 5 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Chandler Smith, Driver Q&A:
Chandler Smith | Daytona Road Course Preview
How important was it for you and your team to get the season off to a good start?
“I feel like overall having good momentum going forward is pretty strong for us. We finished the race at Daytona. We had a really strong race. We led the most laps, so it is good momentum going into the road course.”
What are your expectations heading into the weekend?
“I feel like for us running the full season this year we want to come out of there finishing the race, having a solid points day, get the most experience and make the most of it.”
What do you think the differences between the ARCA car and Tundra will be on the road course?
“Last year when I race the ARCA car, in practice, we were OK and all. When it came to the race, it decided to rain, so I have experience in case it decides to rain. I feel like they are going to be two completely different animals. The ARCA car doesn’t break as good as the truck does. It’s two totally different race cars.”
How important is it to have JBL back on your Tundra this season?
“It’s great having JBL back on my Toyota Tundra this year. We have great partners in Safelite AutoGlass and JBL. I’m looking forward to working with both of them throughout the season.”
Chandler Smith Career Highlights:
- Across 17 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts has recorded 115 laps led, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.1.
- 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 JBL Tundra:
KBM-049: The No. 18 JBL team will unload chassis number KBM-049, which has been raced four times, all on road courses. Raphael Lessard scored a third-place finish with this Tundra at the Daytona Road Course last year. The chassis best finish, a runner-up result, came with Noah Gragson behind the wheel at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ont. In 2017.
Click here to see KBM-049 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers earned an average finish of 12.3 in last year’s event at the Daytona Road Course. Raphael Lessard’s third-place result was the organization’s best finish.
- Erik Jones collected KBM’s lone road-course victory in 2015 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (80) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). 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.
