The 22-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, will be filling in for Buescher, who will not compete at Gateway following a positive COVID-19 test.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series makes its debut at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) before a first-ever sellout crowd. The Camping World Truck Series will join them for the series’ 22nd race at the 1.25-mile paved oval.
Denny Hamlin started on pole at Charlotte, but faded quickly and was not much of a factor until a big wreck on an overtime restart left Hamlin with the lead. Hamlin battled Kyle Busch in the second overtime and edged his teammate by 0.014 seconds.
The 41-year-old Hamlin from Chesterfield, Virginia, led four times for 15 of 413 over-scheduled laps and outlasted the on-track chaos and two overtime attempts to notch his first 600 triumph at the Queen City.
The 28-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, survived an overtime shootout against Denny Hamlin to cash in a million dollars for the first time in his career at the Lone Star state.
The two-time Cup Series champion prevailed through three head-to-head elimination bracket qualifying sessions to claim his third All-Star pole position at the Lone Star state.
The annual NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway will headline the racing action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as 24 drivers compete for the $1 million prize.
