Chandler Smith Books NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs Berth With Bristol Win

Chandler Smith is back.

The former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver has capped off an impressive return to the Truck Series with a win a Bristol Motor Speedway that booked him a ticket to the playoffs.

The Front Row Motorsports driver has finished in the top 10 in the first six races of the season and is second in the points standings behind two-time race winner Corey Heim.

Smith won Stage One in dominant fashion, then finished second to Bayley Currey in Stage Two.

Smith took control again in Stage Three and lined up alongside Heim with Kyle Larson behind him on the outside for the final restart with seven laps to go.

Larson, who was running on fresher tires and recovered from a bad second stage and pit lane speeding penalty, quickly got by Heim and threw everything he had at Smith in the closing laps. He ran high and low looking for speed, but couldn’t close the gap and finished a second adrift.

Read Also: KYLE LARSON HAS 50 NASCAR CUP SERIES WINS IN AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE

“I’m more excited for the team than I am for myself,” said Smith, whose tenure in No. 38 F-150 came in an 11th-hour deal at season’s end. “This group came together—we hired my crew chief (Jon Leonard) two weeks before Daytona,” Smith said during his post-race interview on FS1.

“My life’s been really, really crazy recently, and there were a lot of unknowns about my future going into the season, and we kind of had our backs against the wall putting this group together like I said. But holy [expletive deleted], I wouldn’t want any different of a group than I had behind me.”

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Larson was making his second attempt of the season at a weekend sweep, after having won two of the three races at Homestead-Miami, but will have to settle for another double if he can win the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races, which are scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Saturday and 3 p.m. ET Sunday.

Full Results:

1. (3)  Chandler Smith, Ford, 250.

2. (11)  Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 250.

3. (4)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 250.

4. (2)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 250.

5. (6)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 250.

6. (9)  Layne Riggs, Ford, 250.

7. (5)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 250.

8. (22)  Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 250.

9. (12)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 250.

10. (14)  Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, 250.

11. (19)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 250.

12. (24)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 250.

13. (1)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 250.

14. (35)  Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 250.

15. (29)  Corey Day(i), Chevrolet, 250.

16. (27)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 250.

17. (16)  Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, 250.

18. (17)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 250.

19. (10)  Andres Perez De Lara #, Chevrolet, 250.

20. (15)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 249.

21. (31)  Tyler Tomassi(i), Ford, 246.

22. (21)  Luke Fenhaus, Ford, 243.

23. (20)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, Suspension, 237.

24. (25)  Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, 234.

25. (28)  Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 227.

26. (23)  Justin Carroll, Toyota, 222.

27. (7)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, Suspension, 201.

28. (30)  Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 155.

29. (26)  Patrick Staropoli(i), Toyota, Transmission, 107.

30. (18)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Handling, 77.

31. (33)  Frankie Muniz #, Ford, DVP, 76.

32. (13)  Brandon Jones(i), Toyota, Accident, 53.

33. (8)  Ty Majeski, Ford, Accident, 52.

34. (34)  Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Handling, 35.

35. (32)  Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, Electrical, 4.