Chandler Smith Earns Season-Best 12th-Place Finish at Richmond

Date:                            Sept. 10, 2020

Event:                          ToyotaCare 250 (Race 16 of 23)

Series:                          NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

Location:                     Richmond (Va.) Raceway (0.75-mile D-shaped oval)

Format:                       Three Stages; 70 laps/70 laps/110 laps

Start/Finish:                14th/12th (Running, completed 249 of 250 laps)

Winner:                       Grant Enfinger of ThorSport Racing (Ford) 

Chandler Smith secured the No. 51 team’s spot in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series owner’s playoffs with his season-best 12^th-place finish at Richmond Raceway on Thursday night. After receiving a penalty for running over the choose-lane marking and having to start from the rear of the field at the start of Stage Two, Smith made his way all the way back to 11^th by the end of the stage. 

He remained 11^th when a caution occurred on Lap 175 but moved up to eighth for the ensuing restart on Lap 181 when a handful of trucks pitted. Crew Chief Danny Stockman played the percentages that racing on a short track would lead to a caution over the final 70 laps. Unfortunately, the race went all the way to the end without incident, and the JBL/Smith General Contracting Tundra would end the day one lap down in the 12^th spot. 

The No. 51 team will enter the owner’s playoffs as the ninth seed, three points behind the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 8 when the playoffs begin next Thursday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. 

Stage One Recap:

• Smith started from the 14^th position after a performance matrix based off his finishing position from the previous race, ranking in owner points standings and the ranking of the fastest lap he turned from the previous race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
• The 18-year-old driver had fallen back to the 15^th position when the first caution of the event occurred on Lap 55. Smith restarted from the 11^th position on Lap 61, but as several driver had fresher tires fell back to the 17^th to end Stage One on Lap 70. 

Stage Two Recap:

• Smith communicated to veteran crew chief Danny Stockman that his Tundra “lacked lateral drive off,” before hitting pit road for four fresh tires, a full load of fuel and chassis adjustments.
• The Georgia native would have to start Stage Two from the rear of the field in the 20^th position after driving over the choose-lane marking on the track.
• As Stage Two progressed under green-flag conditions, Stockman communicated to his young driver that he was the “fastest truck on the track,” and he made his way all the way to the 11^th position to complete the segment on Lap 140.

Final Stage Recap:

• Stockman summoned his young driver to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop between stages. The No. 51 Tundra would start the Final Stage on the bottom of the fifth row.
• A one-truck spin on Lap 175 slowed the field for the fourth time. The field was split on strategy with half the trucks hitting pit road for their final set of Goodyear tires and half staying out believing that there would be another caution sometime over the final 75 laps.
• Smith would restart eight on Lap 181 and immediately began losing spots to drivers with fresher tires. With just over 20 laps remaining the talented teenager was running 11^th when he went a lap down to the leader, who pitted during the prior caution.
• The race continued to the end caution free with Smith earning a 12^th-place finish, which was a season best.
• The result also secured the No. 51 team’s spot in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series owner’s playoffs.

Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 51 JBL/Smith General Contracting Tundra for KBM:

How did your race go tonight?

“We had a good No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra. I felt like we just needed to have another caution at the end so that we could’ve got our final set of Goodyear tires and made one last adjustment. We were already really close and just kind of over adjusted on our last pit stop and got us into a tight bind, but we were going to undo it and fine tune on it a little bit more. I felt like before that we were a top-three truck. It’s something every race – you know what I mean? It happens to the greatest out there, we just have to do the best we can with what we have. We’re going to end up having a good race where we put everything together and when we do that, we are going to be hard to beat. We’ll move on, go to Bristol and have fun there.”

ToytoaCare 250 Recap:

• Grant Enfinger scored his fifth-career victory and third of the season at Richmond Raceway beating teammate Matt Crafton by 1.033 seconds. Ben Rhodes, Brett Moffitt, and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top-five
• The race featured four cautions for a total of 37 laps. There were eight lead changes among six drivers.

How Smith’s KBM Teammates Fared:

• Christian Eckes, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 18th
• Raphael Lessard, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 26th 

Gander Trucks Owner’s Championship Standings:  

The No. 51 finished the regular season in the Gander Trucks owner’s championship standings. The team enters the owner’s playoffs ninth on the playoff grid, three points behind the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 8.

Next Race:  

Smith will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 JBL Tundra when the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series resumes action on Thursday Sept. 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Live coverage of the UNOH 200 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET.