SMITH WHEELS TUNDRA TRD PRO TO VEGAS VICTORY
Chandler Smith Claims First Tundra TRD PRO Win of 2022
LAS VEGAS (March 4, 2022) – Chandler Smith claimed his first victory of the season and the first for the Tundra TRD PRO in 2022 in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith’s team owner, Kyle Busch, finished third in the race.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 2 of 23 – 134 Laps, 201 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHANDLER SMITH
2nd, Zane Smith*
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
4th, STEWART FRIESEN
5th, Ryan Preece*
8th, MATT CRAFTON
11th, TY MAJESKI
13th, TATE FOGLEMAN
15th, CHASE PURDY
17th, TYLER ANKRUM
19th, TIMMY HILL
21st, LORIS HEZEMENS
22nd, TODD BODINE
23rd, MATT JASKOL
26th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
29th, CHRISTIAN ECKES
32nd, BEN RHODES
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 1st
How were you able to win this race tonight?
“All up there. When you guys tuned into me halfway through the race and asked how you got up there, the Good Lord. He performs miracles all day and he’s given me this talent and this opportunity to drive this truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports and for Safelite. I’m just beyond thankful for everything and all the glory goes to him. Thanks to my guys and my wife, everybody that’s a part of this deal and deals with me everyday.”
Do you feel you’re starting to make your mark on the series?
“I’m just another guy that’s trying to race cars for a living. I’ll do whateve the Good Lord lets me do.”
Why did you split your team owner on the final restart?
“Boss man did to me the restart before so I was like, ‘Alright Kyle, I see how it’s going to be, we’re not going to help each other.’ So I kept that in the back of my head. We were in contention there at the very end and I stuck it three-wide and was able to clear Kyle (Busch) and get around Zane (Smith). It was all being in the right places at the right times.”
How strong was your Toyota Tundra TRD PRO?
“I told Danny Stockman, my crew chief that if I ever got clean air, we were going to check out. We got clean air and started inching away more and more, but then the cautions kept coming and we were also kind of plate racing. There are so many aero games you can play and things you can do to suck up here. You can’t really drive away from people unless they’re really racing hard behind you and there wasn’t too much of that. I’m just happy to be here with Safelite in my Tundra TRD PRO.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 3rd
Was it a good night overall for Kyle Busch Motorsports?
“It was. The 18 (Chandler Smith) was definitely the best truck tonight. They did a great job being able to execute there. We split them on that second-to-last restart and then on that last restart, he split us. Kind of a little payback I guess. Then I was worried that the 38 (Zane Smith) was going to win. Overall, he (Chandler Smith) was able to get clear and get a good run down the backstretch here. Really proud of those guys – Danny (Stockman, crew chief) and Chandler both executed very well tonight. Cool to see Safelite in victory lane, it’s great for them. Our JBL Tundra just wasn’t quite as good as theirs. They could change lanes in the turns and do a lot of cool stuff, I couldn’t do that. Overall, a really good night with first and third. It sucks that John Hunter (Nemechek) got wrecked, but we’ll fire back at them next time.”
BEN RHODES, No. 99 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
What was the sensation you felt in the truck before the wreck that ended your night?
“Pretty stable and no less unstable than everybody’s been all night long, right? A lot of really tight, close racing and you know I can’t speak to what happened with my teammate there. I’m just going to try to stay positive and you know, think that obviously it must have been an accident. I can’t imagine a teammate wrecking another teammate on purpose. It’s a big bummer, everybody back the shop works extremely hard to build these Tundras and this is one of the best Tundras I’ve had in a long time. Two stage wins was phenomenal. I think that’s the first of my career back-to-back. And really, we did everything we needed for points to get the lead for the season. Just a bummer because we were going to have it if we finished top-10 and keep up with all our goals for the season.”
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