HOMESTEAD, Fla. — After two full seasons, which included a trio of victories, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Chandler Smith has returned to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season.
Smith has amassed three top-10 finishes in three races in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford and ranks fourth in the standings entering Friday’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Smith shared his team’s story with the media Friday afternoon. Smith’s return to the series as the second driver (Layne Riggs) in the Front Row stable came only a few weeks before the season began.
“I think we finally finished the hiring process two weeks before Daytona, maybe a week and a half before Daytona on our last guy,” Smith explained. “We didn’t get our crew chief hired until maybe two weeks, maybe three weeks out of Daytona, so it definitely was very last-minute, but I couldn’t be happier with the group that we assembled, honestly. I mean, it’s turned out great. Everybody is working together great. We’ve got really fast trucks. We’ve got a lot of motivated individuals that are on our team and I feel like in the position that I’m in, I’m looking at this as helping to build this program up a little bit.
“I’ve taken it on my shoulders a little more to step up to that role even more than I have in year’s past, just like last year being at Gibbs – well established and respected organization,” Smith added. “It’s kind of just a plug-and-play deal. This was not a plug-and-play deal. This was a lot more than just that. It’s definitely been an experience. I wouldn’t change it for anything and I’m super grateful for the opportunity that Bob Jenkins and Jerry Freeze has given me.”
Smith was a five-time Truck Series winner with Kyle Busch Motorsports before trying his hand at the Xfinity Series and Cup Series.
“They drive the same as what they did a few years ago when I was in them,” Smith said. “Obviously, I’m driving for a different organization. They have different approaches on setups and different approaches on how they build their race trucks compared to where I was in year’s past, so it’s been adjusting to that a little bit and taking what’s worked for them in the past and what’s worked for me in the past and different organizations and kind of bringing it together and coming up with an even better product. That’s kind of where we’re at right now. I felt like Las Vegas was our first race.
“It was a good read. It felt like both me and Layne got a really good data point of where we were and what we needed to do. My crew chief, Jon Leonard, we both talked and had some great ideas going forward and hopefully we can see how good they turn out today. We’ve implemented some changes, but it’s definitely a lot different than what I’ve been accustomed to for the past two years.”
Smith described what he things he needs to be competitive at Homestead’s 1.5-mile speedway.
“It just needs maneuverability. That’s all Truck racing is now,” he noted. “You’re running so much throttle time, granted you’re not gonna have a bunch of throttle time here at Homestead, but to go after the pole in three and four you’re gonna barely be lifting at all, so you’re still running a lot of throttle time, so being able to have good maneuverability and good lateral grip is pretty key for here.”
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