NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: Lucas Oil 150 (Race 22 of 23), 150 Laps – 45/45/60; 150 Miles
Location: ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. (one-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: Nov. 8, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Racing prodigy Chandler Smith will make his fourth and final NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series start of 2019 in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. Smith nearly went to victory lane in his last Gander Trucks outing, lining up on the front row with reigning series champion Brett Moffitt for a three-lap shootout to the finish, but would settle for an impressive runner-up finish. The 17-year-old driver has finished inside the top 10 in all three of his starts this season, including top-five finishes in his last two outings, led 55 laps and produced an average finish of 4.7.
- While Smith will be making his first start in any series at ISM Raceway, he will be racing for an organization that knows how to go fast at the one-mile oval. Kyle Busch Motorsports’ (KBM) drivers won the event five consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2016 and have won the pole for each of the last five events (2014 to 2018). A KBM driver has led the most laps in each of the last eight events, dating back to 2011, and over the last five races the organization has led 81.3% (590/726) of the total laps.
- Similar to Smith, Erik Jones finished second in just his third career Gander Trucks start while driving a limited schedule for KBM in 2013. Jones went on to win in his fifth and final start of the year at ISM Raceway, leading a race-high 84 laps en route to the victory, which at the time made him the youngest winner of a NASCAR National Series event.
- In addition to his limited Gander Trucks schedule, Smith was impressive in his second part-time ARCA Menards Racing Series schedule. The Georgia native collected five victories, four poles, 666 laps led, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes while competing in just 11 of the 20 events. His five victories in 2019 were a series high and despite being a part timer, he led the series in laps led for the second consecutive year. Overall in 20 starts the last two seasons, Smith has compiled seven wins, eight poles, 1429 laps led, 14 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.3.
- The Toyota Racing Development driver is also running a handful of races for the KBM Super Late Model team this season. Smith came up just short of the victory last weekend in the prestigious All-American 400 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn. He took the lead on lap 285 and stayed out front for the majority of the second half of the event. Another competitor came across his nose while battling for the lead with 20 to go, which would lead to the hood of the No. 51 Mobil 1 Camry blowing off in the subsequent laps and bringing out the caution. Fortunately for Smith, his crew was able to retrieve the hood and secure it with bare bond for the closing laps. Smith lined up as the fifth and final car on the final restart of the event with seven laps remaining, but while chasing down the leader his progress was impeded by a car that was multiple laps down and he was forced to settle for a runner-up finish.
- iBUYPOWER will adorn the hood of Smith’s Tundra on Friday. 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 has your transition been to racing in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions?
“It’s been great — the transition of getting into NASCAR and how the day goes. It’s completely different than short-track racing, Super Late Models, ARCA or anything like that. It’s totally different, the atmosphere is amazing and I definitely feel at home at KBM. Looking forward to Phoenix — we had a really good sim test when I went over and tested a little bit on the simulator last week. I think we’re going to be really strong right out of the box.”
How do you prepare for racing at a track that you’ve never raced at before?
“You start by going back and looking at some race film. Simulator time is really good — just knowing your off throttle and braking points and all that good stuff. I think we are going to have a really good iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics Toyota Tundra there.”
Chandler Smith Career Highlights
- Has two top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.7 across his first three career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts this season. He led 55 laps in his Gander Trucks debut at Iowa Speedway in July and posted a runner-up finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in his most recent outing.
- Has collected seven wins, eight poles, 1429 laps led, 14 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes en route to an average finish of 4.3 across 20 career ARCA Menards Racing starts. In 2019, he collected five wins, four poles, 666 laps led and an average finish of 4.4. Despite competing in a limited schedule, he had led the ARCA Menards Racing Series in laps led each of the last two seasons.
- 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.
Chandler Smith’s No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics Tundra:
KBM-59: The No. 46 iBUYPOWER/828 Logistics team will unload KBM-59 for Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway. Harrison Burton and the No. 18 team earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes in four starts with this Tundra earlier this year, with a best result of fourth coming at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected five wins, five poles, 876 laps led, nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.2 across 24 starts at ISM Raceway.
- The organization’s five victories at the Arizona track have come with four different drivers. Kyle Busch won in 2011, Brian Scott in 2012, Erik Jones went back-to-back in 2013-2014 and Daniel Suarez claimed the top spot in 2016.
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (75) 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, three top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 16 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.
