Smithley strong at Charlotte

Garrett Smithley turned heads Saturday with a fine run in the Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, scoring a 15th-place finish on the lead lap.

Smithley, driving the Instalco/Hero Box Chevrolet, qualified 31st but zipped through the field, reaching 21st by lap 60. He ran as high as 14th.

“We had such a great race today,” Smithley said. “Everything fell into place just like we needed it to. Danny (crew chief Danny Gill) did an awesome job on adjustments the whole race and really got the car driving good.

“We did get lucky on the cautions, but, man, did we have a fast car. I can’t wait to get to my home state of Pennsylvania for Pocono.”

With the strong finish, Smithley jumped two spots in Xfinity driver points to 17th.

It was a big day all around for the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller team. Smithley finished 15th, Ross Chastain led the field under green and finished 17th, and Ryan Preece was 22nd.

“I can’t say enough about how Garrett and everybody on the team did today,” team owner Johnny Davis said. “I’m really proud of all these guys. They showed what we can do and at one of our favorite tracks.”

JD Motorsports PR