Eyes on Xfinity: Sammy Smith Excited for Playoff Push, Future at JR Motorsports

Sammy Smith has flown a bit under the radar this season, but that may be about to change.

Smith sits squarely on the playoff bubble in his first season with JR Motorsports. He came over to the bowtie brigade after rising through the ranks with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing from 2021 to 2023.

Smith’s deal with JR Motorsports was set to be a multi-year oportunity starting in 2024. As we’ve recently seen with Hailie Deegan and many others, a multi-year deal doesn’t always make it to the “multi-” part of the arrangement. Smith, however, will be back in 2025 as confirmed to me by himself, as well as the team.

“I’m looking forward to closing out 2024 strong and building on everything we have learned together this season to start the 2025 season strong with my JRM team,” Smith said.

This may come as a mild surprise to anyone not paying close attention to the puzzle pieces that make up the silly season.

In some ways, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has an even more volatile silly season than that of the NASCAR Cup Series. In Xfinity, you have drivers moving up, down and laterally. Long-term deals are somewhat common in Cup, but far less common in Xfinity. For a young driver like Smith, that continuity should help with more career growth.

Smith recently turned 20. He’s has had an up-and-down year in his second full-time season in Xfinity. Having won a race last season at JGR, Smith is still searching for that first win with his new team. As far as he sees it, that could be right around the corner.

“I feel like we are capable of going out and winning at any of the tracks remaining before the playoffs.” Smith said. “We just need to go out and execute like I know we can, and if we do that I see no reason why we won’t be racing for a championship once we get to Kansas.”

Smith’s elder teammate Sam Mayer, who sports a ripe old age of 21, was recently candid about his desire to move up to the Cup Series. Smith hasn’t made those types of comments yet, but with so much young talent coming up from the lower divisions, having his ride secure for 2025 is a great thing.

Christian Eckes, Connor Zilisch, Carson Kvapil and Rajah Caruth are all young, hungry and experiencing success in the lower divisions while driving for Chevrolets. All have been rumored to various promotions, and with Mayer being a candidate to move on, at least one of those young drivers are potential teammates to Smith in 2025.

Among that group, only Zilisch is younger than Smith. So while he hasn’t been overly flashy or piling up wins yet, Smith still has plenty of time to develop and reach a very high ceiling. While the future is promising, he remains focused on the present, where he is clinging to a 22-point lead over Ryan Sieg for the final playoff position.

Smith’s JRM teammate, Brandon Jones, is one spot below Sieg.

I asked Smith what the balance between cooperation and competition was like at JRM, given the circumstances of both drivers being near the bubble.

“Our goal at JRM is to have all four teams in the playoffs, and I know that everyone at the company is doing all they can go get both myself and Brandon in the playoffs with our teammates Sam and Justin,” Smith said.

As part of their playoff push, Smith and the No. 8 team made a strategy play at the Chicago street course that illustrated the kinds of plays they need to make to ensure they stay on the right side of the bubble. They stayed out while most cars pitted near the end of the second stage and ended up finishing second in that stage while gaining nine additional points. Smith sees the stretch run as a good time to make more aggressive strategy calls to gain points.

“In the position we are in, we need to race for stage points,” Smith said. “I know that puts us a little behind in stage 3, so it puts me in a mindset to where I need to be aggressive and calculated with my passes coming through the field. My driving style definitely falls more on the aggressive side, so I like when we take chances to get the maximum amount of points possible.”

With over half of the season under his belt and at least one more confirmed for 2025, Smith is settling in at JRM. It’s too early to tell where he might be in 2026 and beyond, from a team or series standpoint, but he seems content with the big career move coming over from JGR.

“I feel like everything has been going well so far,” Smith said. “It’s definitely a different atmosphere than where I was last year, but I feel like we are really in a good place right now as the playoffs get closer.”

If Mayer gets his wish and moves up to Cup, then Smith would seem to sort of move up in the hierarchy of the team, and success could start to position him for a future in the premier series. But he knows there is much more to accomplish while he races mostly on Saturdays.

“I’ve just been trying to take everything in and learn as much as I can from everyone at JRM so that we can go to the track and compete for wins every week,” Smith said.

Smith won his first Xfinity race at Phoenix Raceway. Not a bad place to be really good under the current schedule. It wasn’t a one-race wonder either, since Smith has finished top 10 in all four of his starts in the desert.

The Johnston, Ia., native also has average finishes of 10th or better at Watkins Glen International, Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. At the Charlotte ROVAL, he finished 11th in his only start at the track. What do these tracks have in common? They’re all still ahead on the schedule.

We haven’t quite seen the number of laps led (55 on the season) you’d expect from someone who could win a title, but the schedule ahead is favorable. Smith’s two best statistical tracks (Phoenix and Martinsville) host the last two races of the season. He has a strong JR Motorsports team behind him. He’s still getting better.

One sportsbook has Smith’s championship odds at +2500. That’s tied with AJ Allmendinger for ninth-highest. Don’t let the quiet first half of the season fool you. If Smith can get through the first round of the playoffs, he has as good a shot as anyone else to win it all.