Chandler Smith gave it his all in Saturday night’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. — For a weekend that started off rough, Chandler Smith made the most of Saturday night’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
Officially starting from the 37th position, the 21-year-old Talking Rock, Georgia, native was behind the eight ball at the 0.526-mile short track. Wrecking his car in Friday’s practice session, Smith’s Joe Gibbs Racing team worked feverishly on repairing their wounded primary car.
Smith’s crew tirelessly mended their battered No. 81 Wheelers Toyota SR Supra in the late hours of Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday morning at their Huntersville, North Carolina, shop. From there, it was brought back to the paperclip track on midday Saturday, ready for the seventh round of the NASCAR XFINTY Series season.
From the start of Saturday night’s race, Smith methodically worked his way through the field, driving from 37th to finish 15th in Stage 1. Although he did not net any stage points, it was evident that he had a fast mount for this short track fight.
By Stage 2’s conclusion, Smith finished eighth, salvaging three stage points. Solid pit strategy calls by crew chief Jeff Meendering and fast pit stops by the over-the-wall crew kept the tenacious racer in the battle for the final stretch of the race.
On Lap 204, Smith was duking it out with Aric Almirola, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, for the lead. Taking the lead for a brief circuit, Almirola enjoyed a 34-lap stint as the leader before Smith applied the bumper to the veteran racer on Lap 239.
The internal teammate duel did not end with Almirola regaining the lead from Smith on Lap 241, repaying the bump and run move executed three laps before.
At that juncture, Smith salvaged a competitive third place finish while Almirola scored the win. As for Smith, he netted a podium on a weekend that could have gone haywire.
Chandler Smith heads out for NASCAR Xfinity Series practice at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“It was really wild,” Smith said. “I definitely had the good Lord looking down on me tonight – just helping me guide through all of that traffic there. There was a point with that big pileup where the 9 (Brandon Jones) missed a shift – I was going to take the top, and I ended up taking the bottom and that could have ended our night right there.”
Certainly, Smith did not forget about his hardy crew at the track and the shop for repairing his machine.
“Just really, really proud of everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” he said. “All of the men and women that put this thing back together last night working through the hours of the night. We had a really fast no. 81 Wheelers Toyota GR Supra. Just got a little behind on my adjustments there in the end, but we have really good notes for when we come back in the fall.”
Preparation is all in the name of the game in motorsports. If anyone ponders about the readiness of Smith and his No. 81 team perhaps the work put forth during the offseason may have others groaning in their wake.
“Honestly, there wasn’t that big of, I guess you could say, change,” Smith observed. “We got to work right after Phoenix, of last year, was in the simulator pretty much every single week – all the way up to Christmas. We took a two-week break off, and then was right back at it again.
“We’ve got as far as – we are from Texas all the way to Pocono on our sim stuff right now. We were ready. We were prepared for the season, and I think that is why the results have been there. We were so prepared for this season right off the rip.”
