CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chandler Smith comes into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase ranked third in the seeding – only 35 points behind his Front Row Motorsports’ teammate Riggs atop the standings – and Smith says he’s ready to harness a whole lot of that momentum.
It goes beyond his innate competitive push to hoist the season trophy. Only weeks ago, the 24-year-old Georgia native was signed by Richard Childress Racing to return to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series full time in 2027. So, Smith is determined to make this championship-run a celebratory farewell.
The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford started the year with a win in the season-opener at Daytona and added his ninth career series victory in July at North Wilkesboro, N.C. He’s earned top-10 finishes in 12 of the 18 races to date, including the four leading into this Chase run.
“We’re 35 points out and if you look at the last few races of the regular season how we started cutting that points deficit. … I think our team is in a good spot right now and I’m driving in a good spot,” Smith said.
“Here recently we’ve really been consistent and seen the fruits of the labor,” Smith said of the team’s efforts, praising his team owner Bob Jenkins for “taking a risk” on hiring him two years ago.
“I’d like to leave them on a good note, leave them with a good solid foundation that whatever driver they have coming in and go out and win races and contend for championships, that they have the notebook, they have the trucks, they have everything at their disposal.”
Smith finished third in the championship in 2022 boasting three trips to Victory Lane, but says he looks forward to the new championship format this year that rewards a season-long effort.
“To be a part of the Chase and be part of a format that I watched Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch just dominate, or Tony Stewart, those guys – to be a part of that format is really cool for me,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of it and now here I am, so it’s a little bit of a dream come true.
“The other thing that makes it different from this year to last year is now we have a most a full other year of working as a team and the fruit of that labor has been showing here recently with the consistent finishes. Chemistry is big. It takes time and patience and I’m proud to see the 38-team growing and getting better week by week.”
