Sammy Smith at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. – Sammy Smith brought home a solid fifth-place finish Saturday afternoon in the Ambetter Health 200 Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Qualifying Friday afternoon went well for Smith in the No. 18 machine, as he managed to record a lap time quick enough to start Saturday’s main event from the seventh position. Smith’s weekend took a turn, however, when crew members discovered an oil leak when they got to the car to warm fluids. He had to go to the rear for unapproved adjustments.
It did not take the Johnston, Iowa native long to recover as he worked his way up to 19th by Lap 59. By the end of Stage 2, Smith’s weekend made a turn for the better after a pit stop and restart on Lap 89, when Parker Retzlaff spun his tires, allowing Smith to get the Stage 2 win.
Notably, aside from Smith’s first stage win this season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver maintained top-ten speed even after spinning his tires and turning Sam Mayer in Turn 1 with just three laps to go.
“My bad on that, but I don’t know, it sucks for us,” Smith noted when asked about the incident after the race.
Smith was pleased with his day overall, especially with the circumstance of how the race began for him and the No. 18 team.
“Yeah, it was a solid day coming back from the back twice,” Smith said. “One we had an oil leak and then I put myself in a hole on pit road. So, good day overall, just thought we had a shot there just kind of fell off and didn’t work out.”
The 19-year-old also felt optimistic about the next several races for both himself and his team entering the final races before the playoffs.
“[We’re] making some good strides,” Smith said. “I think we’re 80 percent there compared to how we need to be a winning car for the championship, but we’ll get there. I think just execution. We kind of fell apart there toward the end, had a good green flag stop, good stop, just they didn’t make the right adjustments.
“I’ve been to Pocono, been to Road America before and Michigan, so a couple of good tracks for us, just got to go there and execute.”
Smith will return to action on Saturday, July 22 at Pocono Raceway. The race is set for 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
