Chandler Smith Battles to 15th-Place Finish at Nashville

Chandler Smith started Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 out strong finishing fifth in Stage One but had to overcome adversity the remainder of the event. He battled an ill-handling Safelite Tundra TRD Pro in Stage Two and in the Final Stage his over-the-wall crew was hit with a penalty, and he got caught up in an accident.
 
Despite all that, Smith battled from outside the top 20 in the closing laps to bring home a 15th-place finish.
 
 
Stage One Recap
 
·        Smith started Saturday’s event from the sixth position after posting a lap of 29.983 seconds at 159.696 mph in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session.
·        The Safelite Tundra fell back to seventh on the initial start as Smith communicated that his Toyota was “not tight enough to fire off.”
·        The Georgia driver elected the bottom of the third row for a restart on lap 24 and one lap later would settle into the fifth position. He remained in the fifth spot when Stage One came to a completion at lap 45, earning six stage points.
 
 
Stage Two Recap:
 
·        During the stage break, Smith communicated that the Safelite Tundra TRD Pro was “sliding the fronts too much” before hitting pit road for four tires and fuel with a chassis adjustment.
·        When Stage Two went green on lap 53, the 19-year-old driver lined up on the bottom of the fourth row. After the fourth caution of the night slowed the field on lap 70, Smith reported that his Toyota was “a little free,” while running in fifth.
·        After lining up at the top of the third row for the ensuing restart, the No. 18 Toyota began to slowly fall back through the field as Smith communicated that it was “wrecking loose.”
·        As the field crossed the stripe to complete Stage Two on lap 90, Smith was scored in the 11th position, missing out on stage points.
 
 
Final Stage Recap:
 
·        Between stages the over-the-wall crew administered a four-tire and fuel stop with a major chassis adjustment. As the jackman was completing the adjustment Smith began to pull away from the pit stall, but the wrench was stuck in the truck, and he had to stop just outside his stall. After the wrench was removed, NASCAR issued the team a penalty for pitting outside their stall and Smith would have to start the Final Stage from the tail end of the longest line.
·        Smith communicated that the adjustments didn’t help the handling of his truck as he remained mid pack in the Final Stage.
·        A big wreck between three trucks inside the top 10 occurred with 23 laps remaining and as Smith tried to miss the mele, he ended up with damage to the Safelite Tundra TRD Pro.
·        After several trips down pit road for damage repair, the Georgia driver lined up at the tail of the field scored outside the top 20 with 10 laps remaining. He was able to gain several positions in the closing laps to bring home a hard-fought 15th-place finish.
 
 
 
Rackley Roofing 200 Recap
 
  • Ryan Preece earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win. Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Ty Majeski and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-five finishers.
  • There were eight cautions for 43 laps and seven lead changes among four drivers.
 
 
How Chandler Smith’s KBM Teammates Fared:
 
·        John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished ninth.
·        Corey Heim, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 33rd.
 
 
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
 
Smith maintained the fourth position in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks series regular season standings. With two events remaining in the regular season, he sits 35 tallies behind Zane Smith.
 
 
Next Race:

KBM PR