Chandler Smith: Driver, No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics Tundra
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: CarShield 200 presented by CK Power, Race 11 of 23, 200 Laps – 35/35/90; 200 Miles
Location: Word Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Ill. (1.25-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 22, 2019 at 10 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Coming off an impressive NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in the No. 51 Tundra at Iowa Speedway in Newton last week, 16-year-old Chandler Smith moves over to the No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics Tundra for this week’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Ill. Smith had a fast Safelite AutoGlass Tundra right off the truck at Iowa, as he topped the charts in his first-ever Gander Trucks practice Saturday morning. After qualifying was washed out and the race was postponed until Sunday, the Georgia native started on the pole based on the No. 51 team’s first-place standing in Owner’s points. Despite battling a radio issues that kept him from hearing his team communications, the talented teenager opened up a five-second lead in the early part of Stage One. After leading the first 55 laps, he hit pit road to have the radio issue fixed under caution. Smith was able to rally from 14th to fourth in Stage Two, but was issued a speeding penalty on pit road and started the Final Stage from the back of the field. He was able to work his way back into the top 10 and at the end of the day delivered a respectable eighth-place finish in his Gander Trucks debut.
- Smith will be pulling double duty Saturday, competing in both the ARCA Racing Series event and the Gander Trucks event in the same day. The Georgia driver also did double duty last weekend, but it spanned across three days. He dominated the ARCA race at Madison (Wis.) International Speedway Friday night before hitting the track at Iowa early Saturday morning for two practices and then ended up racing on Sunday. This time around, the racing prodigy is scheduled to compete in both races on the same day, with 120 laps scheduled for the ARCA Racing Series at 7:45 p.m. ET followed by 160 laps for the Gander Trucks at 10 p.m. ET.
- The Toyota Racing Development driver has put together an impressive ARCA Racing Series resume since making his debut last April. Smith has collected four wins, seven poles, 1186 laps led, 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes across just 14 career starts. In 2019, he has collected two wins, three poles and 423 laps led. He has started and finished inside the top five in all five of his ARCA starts this season while recording an average starting position of 2.4 and an average finish of 2.6.
- Smith will return to the No. 51 team Aug. 15 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and will compete for the No. 46 team again Nov. 7 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. He will also climb behind the wheel of the famed No. 51 KBM Super Late Model and race the Winchester 400 Oct. 13 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, the All-American 400 Nov. 3 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn., and the Snowball Derby Dec. 2 at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
- iBUYPOWER will adorn the hood of Smith’s Tundra for his final three Gander Trucks events this season, beginning with Saturday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Since 1999, iBUYPOWER has been delivering on its promise to build the best gaming systems for the most discerning gamers. Even in a time when PCs were not as ubiquitous as they are today, we fueled the passion for gaming by giving our customers the highest quality in custom built computers. Our systems have since become the backbone for professional gamers, game developers, LAN centers, major Esports tournaments, and everyday consumers. iBUYPOWER has worked intimately with brands such as Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, Microsoft, WD, ASUS, Bethesda, MLG, and many more. Superior performance, reliability, cutting edge technology, and timely production make iBUYPOWER the authority in PC gaming.
Chandler Smith, Driver Q&A
How would you assess your Gander Trucks debut last week?
“Overall it was an up and down day. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) gave me a heck of a Safelite Toyota Tundra. Went from dominating the race to coming in for a pit stop — we had a little radio issues that we had to fix. We made our way back through the field and then I ended up suffering from a speeding penalty. Overall it was a really good learning day. I got to drive through the field twice, so I got a good bit of passing experience. We’ll take that and move on to Gateway.”
This will be your first start in any series at Gateway. What do you know about the track?
“Not that much, other than it has really long straightaways and Turns 1 and 2 are very narrow.”
How do you prepare for a track that you’ve never raced at before?
“We’ve been on the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) sim for a little bit — I’ve got a bunch of laps at Gateway on the simulator. I’m just going to reflect off that a little bit and we’ll see what we have when we get there for the first practice session.”
How have you prepared for running both the ARCA Racing and Gander Outdoors Truck Series races on the same day?
“I just have to rest up a good bit, hydrate a good bit and be mentally focused when it comes to race day.”
Chandler Smith Career Highlights
- Led 55 laps and finished eighth in his Gander Trucks Series debut June 16 at Iowa Speedway.
- Has collected four wins, seven poles, 1186 laps led, 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes across just 14 career ARCA Racing starts. In 2019, he has collected two wins, three poles and 423 laps led. He has started and finished inside the top five in all five of his ARCA starts this season while recording an average starting position of 2.4 and an average finish of 2.6.
- 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.
- Smith has also competed in some of the biggest Super Late Model events the last few seasons. He earned his first marquee win in January of 2018 in the CRA SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga., edging out short-track legend Bubba Pollard.
- He also won the pole, led 97 laps and finished second in the 2018 Winchester 400 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and finished third in the 2017 running of the event. The talented teenager has also posted an average finish of 6.0 across three starts in the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola. Fla.
Chandler Smith’s No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics Tundra:
KBM-30: The No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics team will unload KBM-30 for Saturday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Raphael Lessard has piloted this chassis twice this season for the No. 46 squad, qualifying seventh at both Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Dover (Del.) International Speedway with finishes of 14th and 11th, respectively.
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, 363 laps led, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 13.4 across 16 starts at World Wide Technology Raceway.
- Christopher Bell was victorious at the 1.25-mile track in 2016 and Darrell Wallace Jr., won the 2014 event
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (74) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 46 team has recorded one win, one pole, 147 laps led, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 14 starts while competing in a part-time schedule with various drivers the last three seasons. Owner-driver Kyle Busch captured the pole and led a race-high 109 laps en route to the No. 46’s inaugural victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August of 2017.
