Sammy Smith – No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra Preview – Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway - Speedway Digest

No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:

SMITH AT HOMESTEAD: Sammy Smith will run his first race at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS).
LAS VEGAS RECAP: Smith qualified second for last weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith had a strong first stage and collected points with a third-place finish. Pit road trouble put him in the back to start the second stage, but he drove the No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra to a ninth-place finish in Stage 2 to collect additional playoff points. A loose wheel forced Smith to bring his GR Supra down pit road on lap 148. The setback resulted in a 17th-place finish for the No. 18 team. Smith is now seventh in the NASCAR Playoffs standings, 35 points from the Championship Four cutline.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Smith is eligible to compete for the 2023 NXS Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY). The other drivers competing for the title are Chandler Smith, Parker Retzlaff, and Blaine Perkins.
ARCA EAST CHAMPION x2: Smith defended his 2021 ARCA Menards Series East (AMSE) Championship in 2022 on the strength of five wins and a top-five finish in all of the AMSE races. He also won four ARCA Menards Series races and one ARCA Menards Series West race in 2022.
ON THE PITBOX: Crew Chief Jeff Meendering will head up the No. 18 team during the 2023 season. He has visited Victory Lane eight times as a NXS crew chief, most recently with Smith at Phoenix in March 2023. His teams have collected 58 top-five finishes, 122 top-10 finishes, and 11 pole positions under his leadership.
JGR AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 62 total starts at Las Vegas in Xfinity competition. Drivers have combined for five wins, 20 top-fives finishes, 39 top-10 finishes, 5 poles, and 782 laps led.
FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for updates and a behind-the-scenes look at Smith’s 2023 NXS Seasons.

Twitter: @SammySmithSS I Facebook: Sammy Smith Racing I Instagram: @sammysmithss_

RACE INFO: The NXS Contender Boats 300 at Homestead-Miami is scheduled for 3:00 PM EST on Saturday, October 21. The race will be broadcasted on USA, MRN, Sirius XM and available to stream on the NBC Sports app.

From the Driver’s Seat:

Sammy Smith: “Homestead is the last place this year that I don’t have experience, so practice will be really important to get a good feel for the car. We need to have a solid points day after Las Vegas. Putting ourselves in position to win would be great so we can go ahead and lock ourselves into Phoenix.”

JGR PR