Chandler Smith – No. 81 QuickTie Toyota GR Supra Preview – Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway

No. 81 QuickTie Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:

  • SMITH AT KANSAS: Smith has six starts at Kansas Speedway – one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS), four in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS), and one in the ARCA Menards Series (AMS). In last year’s NXS race, Smith had a mechanical failure that took him out of the race early. He has two NCTS top-five finishes at the Midwest track.
  • BRISTOL RECAP: The No. 81 team put together a solid weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway to end the NXS regular season. Smith put down the fastest lap in qualifying, earning the pole for the race. He led 29 laps on Friday night and earned a playoff point by winning the first stage. The No. 81 ultimately crossed the finish-line in third place. Smith earned eight playoff points by finishing third in the regular season points standings. The top-10 at Bristol gave Smith a streak of five top-ten finishes in a row (Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Bristol), which is the longest active streak in the Xfinity Series.
  • NXS PLAYOFFS: Smith is one of twelve drivers vying for the NXS championship this fall. Kansas begins the round of 12 and in two weeks, after the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the field will be cut to eight drivers. Going into the first playoffs race, Smith sits fourth in the standings after the reset, 17 points above the cutline.
  • QUICKTIE: Quick Tie Products, Inc., (“QuickTie”) manufactures and distributes the QuickTie™ System, a proprietary, patented hold down system for high wind and seismic construction. The QuickTie™ System comprises wire rope cables with threaded rod studs swaged to each end, each with a steel bearing plate on the top end. Their cables are designed to cinch walls to their foundations from the uppermost top plates, thereby effectively resisting roof uplift and building overturning pressures. QuickTie also manufactures hangers, hold downs, plywood clips and all structural building components.
  • ON THE PITBOX: Crew Chief of the No. 81, JeffMeendering has visited Victory Lane 10 times as a NXS crew chief, most recently with Smith at Richmond in March 2024. His teams have collected 70 top-five finishes, 141 top-10 finishes, and 15 pole positions under his leadership.
  • JGR AT KANSAS: Joe Gibbs Racing owns 12 Xfinity Series wins at Kansas Speedway, including John Hunter Nemechek’s victory last year. In 64 combined starts at the track, the organization has posted 21 top-five finishes, 37 top-10s, six pole awards, and 1,441 laps led. Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Brandon Jones, Matt Kenseth, and Joey Logano join Nemechek on the list of drivers who have taken JGR to victory lane at Kansas.
  • FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for updates and a behind-the-scenes look at Smith’s 2024 NXS Season.

Twitter: @CSmith_Racing I Facebook: Chandler Smith I Instagram: @csmith_racing

  • RACE INFO: The Kansas Lottery 300 is scheduled for 4:00 PM EST on Saturday, September 28. Coverage of the race will be on The CW, MRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

From the Driver’s Seat:

Chandler Smith: “This weekend may be the start of the playoffs, but I’m not approaching this weekend any different that the rest of the season. I feel like we are finally over a little bit of a summer slump and we’ve had a great stretch of races since Daytona. I think if we just keep doing our job and taking the season week by week, we’ll be in a good place in the points standings.”

JGR PR