Garrett Smithley will return to JD Motorsports’ No. 0 Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2018, the team announced Wednesday, Feb. 7.
Smithley enters his third season with the Gaffney, S.C.-based team.
“I’m so excited to be back with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller this season,” Smithley said in a press release. “We’ve had two very successful seasons together, and to be given the opportunity to continue to build on that is something I do not take for granted.
“Each and every year JD Motorsports with Gary Keller grows and improves. This offseason has been an extremely strong one for this organization, and I knew that if the opportunity presented itself to return, I wouldn’t pass it up. I can’t thank Johnny Davis and Gary Keller enough for the opportunities they have given me and this entire team for all that they do. We’re a family, and we’re in this together. It will be awesome to work with Ross [Chastain] once again, as well as Vinnie [Miller] and Matt [Mills] this season.”
Team co-owner Johnny Davis likes what he sees on- and off-track from Smithley.
“I’m very happy to have Garrett back in the No. 0 Chevy again this season,” Davis said. “Garrett has a lot of talent as a driver, and he has the right attitude for working with his team, his crew chief and the team’s sponsors. This will be JD Motorsports’ best season yet, and having Garrett behind the wheel will play a key part in that.”
In 2017, Smithley ran all but one of the 33 races in the No. 0 Chevrolet. For Chicagoland, he moved to MBM Motorsports’ No. 40 as a result of Miller having a deal to drive the No. 0. Smithley finished 20th in XFINITY Series points with two top-10 finishes, his best finish an eighth in the season-opening PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
The year before, he competed in 32 of the 33 races with the team, sitting out only for the season-opening race at Daytona, when Eric McClure drove the No. 0.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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