Sammy Smith (left) battles with teammate Connor Zilisch (right) for position at Kansas Speedway during the Kansas Lottery 300. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs can produce drama at its highest levels, and Sammy Smith may be the culprit behind that when NASCAR hits the twists and turns of the Charlotte Roval.
The JR Motorsports driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet was in quite the points deficit after the first race of the playoffs, falling 24 points below the cutoff. Throughout the 2025 season, Smith has not really shown the true winning potential he once had when he was at Joe Gibbs Racing.
The No. 8 has one win on the season as of now, that coming at NASCAR’s return to Rockingham on Easter weekend. Even though that race counted as a win for Smith and JRM, they still finished second behind a red-hot Jesse Love, who was later disqualified in post-race inspection.
That win locked the young short track ace into a playoff berth, but the speed that is needed out of a playoff driver has not been present in the No. 8 camp. Although, that does not mean Smith cannot get good results despite poor pace.
NASCAR hit the high banks of Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 this past weekend, a track that the whole JR Motorsports and Chevrolet organization usually runs very well at in the Xfinity Series. For Smith, that good top five pace was present in his TMC machine.
From the drop of the green flag, the No. 8 stormed to the top 10 from a 14th place qualifying effort. Lap after lap, it seemed that the JRM camp was putting more and more of a gap on their competition, and Smith was right in the mix for most of the day.
Sammy Smith (right) continues to fight with Sam Mayer (left), Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill (behind) during the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
At one point, the third-year driver was running in the top three, right behind the likes of his teammates in Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier. The only driver who could compete with those three for a majority of the race was Brandon Jones, and that proved true by the conclusion of the show when the No. 20 took the checkered flag.
Smith was able to easily manage his race and run at his pace, keeping the No. 8 inside the top 10 until the green flag stops. When the final restart came around, Smith sat sixth in the running order, and a really strong restart propelled him to fourth by the end of the first lap.
For the remaining laps of the race, Smith held off the top tier programs behind him and led his team to a very successful day and a positive result, heading to a track that has shown promise based on his 2025 campaign.
With the season of ups and downs that Smith has had on and off the track, he previously said before the playoffs started that his JRM team has made the right corrections in order to excel in the post-season.
“It’s been up and down; we haven’t been as consistent as we need to be… we’ve improved and made mistakes as a team as well. I feel like we’re in a really good place going into the playoffs.”
Right now, Smith helped his odds of a Round of 8 berth by moving his points position to 14 below the cutline. Heading to a track like the Roval could be a potential wild card for the young driver, who is not widely known for his road course pedigree, but has shown fantastic pace in comparison to the dominance his teammate Zilisch has shown at events like this throughout the season.
The fight for a championship is a long way from over for Smith and his JRM group. A good run can shake up the playoff standings entirely this coming weekend.
