Chandler Smith scored his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race win on Saturday at Richmond Raceway. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
RICHMOND, Va. – After a promising effort at Las Vegas, it was only a matter of time before Chandler Smith broke through to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
However, it proves impressive knowing that the 20-year-old Talking Rock, Georgia native did so in just his 10th career start and seventh with the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet efforts.
Prior to Saturday afternoon’s Toyota Care 250, Smith acquitted himself well with three top fives and three top 10s in the season’s first six races. Entering the race ranked fifth in the points standings, the mild mannered driver was licking his chops for a winning bid at the 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway.
Starting from the eighth position, Smith quickly picked off positions, one-by-one, taking the lead on Lap 45 from Riley Herbst. Smith went on to win Stage 1, besting the likes of Herbst, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Cole Custer.
Berry flexed his muscles in Stage 2, taking the victory ahead of Jones, Herbst, Smith and Custer. By all means, the quintet proved to be the class of the field at Richmond.
Once Stage 3 was underway, Smith brought himself back into the fight while Jones, Berry and John Hunter Nemechek asserted themselves into the picture. With 19 laps remaining, Jones’ winning bid came to an end in a Turn 2 accident that also collected Herbst.
Once the Lap 231 incident was resolved, Smith drove past Nemechek for the lead before another multi-car crash on Lap 239 in Turn 3 that involved Justin Allgaier, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Ellis and Leland Honeyman. This skirmish set up a six lap duel for the win.
From there, it was a riveting cat and mouse battle between Smith and Nemechek, as both drivers sought to get the better out of the other for the victory. While Nemechek’s car picked up with its pace and power in the final laps, Smith excelled on short, green flag runs, a perfect situation given the short sprint to the finish.
Smith prevailed over Nemechek by just 0.298 seconds, exorcising the heartbreak from his Las Vegas letdown with a Richmond victory.
Chandler Smith loves Richmond and it loves him right back. (Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)
After treating the fans with a burnout, Smith soaked in his first career Xfinity Series win with his Kaulig Racing crewmates and the team’s leadership in Chris Rice and Matt Kaulig.
Following the celebrations, Smith reflected on his memorable Saturday afternoon in the Dominion State.
“The biggest relief was when the first caution came out,” Smith said. “I knew we were going to get tires. We had the best car all day for about 30 to 35 laps. We’ve got some work to do to go back to the shop and figure out how to make our stuff live a little bit longer and still have good fire off speed.
“There’s obviously a happy medium there, but I felt like after today, I have a good direction kinda what to give feedback wise to my guys to make our program better at tracks like this. So with that being said though, when that caution fell, I knew how many laps were approximately going to be left, I kinda knew right then and there that I had to do my job, be clean, be good and the cards would play out where they needed to be.”
Smith won’t have to wait too long to be back in the driver’s seat of a competitive stock car. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
Right now, Smith jumps from fifth to fourth in the regular season standings, carrying on the winning ways of the No. 16 team like his predecessor, AJ Allmendinger. Although the NASCAR Xfinity Series does not compete again until Saturday, Apr. 15’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Smith does not have to wait long to clamber back into a stock car.
Namely, Smith makes his debut NASCAR Cup Series start in the No. 13 Kaulig Racing entry.
Generally speaking, Smith looks forward to competing in stock car’s premier division particularly after missing this year’s Daytona 500.
“I just want to finish the Cup race, to be quite honest with you. I don’t have really any expectations,” he said. “I have a general feel of what the Cup car felt like at Daytona that’s so different than here at Richmond.
“I’m just a blind squirrel. I don’t really have any expectations. I’m just really grateful to be racing on Sunday at Richmond with Kaulig Racing. Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice have given me this opportunity and it’s amazing. I’m going to go out there, perform, and see where it ends up.”
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
C. Smith-Herbst-B. Jones-Berry-Custer/Allgaier-Hemric-Creed-Sieg-Mayer
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Berry-B. Jones-Herbst-C. Smith-Custer/Grala-Nemechek-Kligerman-Allgaier-Creed
Toyota Care 250 Top 10 Finishers at Richmond
C. Smith-Nemechek-Berry-Grala-Custer/Creed-Sieg-Kligerman-Hill-Kraus
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article directly on-site from Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
