HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Chandler Smith‘s weekend started in promising fashion as he started on the pole and was eight points above the playoff cut line in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
But by the end of the race, Smith sat well below the cut line.
The driver of the No. 81 car led the first 29 laps of the race before fading to the back half of top 10 by the end of stage one.
Hovering around the back half of the top 10 for stage two and the start of stage three, Smith had a costly final pit stop on lap 161. When the jackman dropped the jack, Smith drove over it.
“The driver made a mistake on pit road on the green flag stop,” Smith said after the race. “Drove it off the jack and then I lost a good bit.”
The pit stop took over 20 seconds, and he was left with a disappointing 13th-place finish. Even though he was able to score five stage points, Austin Hill scored the victory, leaving Smith’s championship hopes on the outside looking in heading into the penultimate race of the season.
Since his ride is not confirmed for 2025, his outlook for next year is bleak.
“I don’t have a ride next year,” Smith said. “I could be working for my dad’s construction business, and I could be hanging it up at the end of this year.”
The reason why he might not return next season? It’s a problem as old as racing.
“The only seats left open, you got to bring a big pocketbook with you, and I don’t have a big pocketbook.”
Smith currently sits outside the playoff cut line by 28 points heading to Martinsville Speedway. Looking forward to the weekend ahead, Smith gave one simple warning to his competitors:
“All craps will not be given at Martinsville.”
Jared Haas joined the Frontstretch staff in May 2020. During his time at Frontstretch, Jared has grown the Frontstretch YouTube channel from less than 200 subscribers to well over 23,000 subscribers.