Another Bad Break Puts Chandler Smith In Playoff Jeopardy

Chandler Smith struggled to a disappointing finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – After suffering a mechanical problem that resulted in a 30th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chandler Smith enters the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway facing elimination.

The Talking Rock, Ga., native has two wins this season, including the April race at Bristol, and entered the playoffs as the third-seeded driver.

However, after a self-inflicted crash at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and then his engine gremlins in Thursday night’s UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics, Smith sits 24 points behind the cut line heading into the Round of 10 finale next week.

Smith reported the issue over the radio on lap 31 and quickly ducked to pit road. His Front Row Motorsports crew – led by crew chief Jon Leonard – was able to get the truck fixed, but he finished 14 laps down as a result.

“I’m not sure what the issue was, honestly,” Smith said after the race. “Sounds like it was a sensor that slowly unplugged itself, which is mind boggling to me that we’re racing at this prestig[ious] of a level and can have something just start wiggling its way out that completely ruins your day. Nevertheless, the No. 38 QuickTie Ford F-150 was the fastest [truck] here. That’s the gut-wrenching part, knowing how good this truck was.

“There was a caution at the very start with Layne [Riggs]. After that caution and about eight laps, I started running the top and I got to third or fourth. As I was passing somebody it just cut out. Just stopped. Like just dead. I was like ‘Maybe it’s fuel pressure related,’ because I was running the top.

“I went to the bottom and it kind of cleaned itself up, but lap traffic forced me back to the top. It started doing it more and more, and finally it was just done. Really, really happy that Layne won though. That’s three in a row here for [Front Row Motorsports]."

Smith said he shoulders some of the blame for his current points situation because of the DNF he suffered at Darlington, after he hit the wall just 11 laps into that race.

“Now we’re in a [bad] situation going into New Hampshire and it comes all the way back to [me] making a bonehead move at Darlington that put us in this position,” Smith noted. “Who knows where we would be points wise depending on how Darlington went if I hadn’t stuffed it in the fence.

“Nevertheless, we’re going to do [at New Hampshire] what we were going to do tonight, and that’s kick their ass and win to advance.”

Both of Smith’s Truck Series victories this year have come at short tracks, which gives him some confidence heading to the flat one-mile oval in New Hampshire.

“I feel [good],” Smith said. “I’m just a little discouraged right now, but I feel good.”

Broadcast coverage of the Round of 10 cutoff race, the Team EJP 175 at New Hampshire, airs Saturday, Sept. 20 at noon ET on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.