Sammy Smith scored the NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo by Ivan Veldhuizen)
Sammy Smith, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver, prevailed in Saturday afternoon’s United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway.
After leading a total of 92 laps of the 1-mile oval in the desert, including the last 52 laps, Smith earned his first career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. At 18, Smith became the fourth youngest rider to do so.
“It is amazing. A dream come true,” said Smith. “Thanks to all the guys on the JGR team for giving me this opportunity. It is impressive.”
Smith finished 0.641 seconds ahead of teammate Ryan Truex in the #19 Toyota.
“I think the track just changed a lot more than I expected. In the long run we were really bad – I just kept going. Jason (Ratcliff) and these guys had me complain on the radio and we made the right adjustments,” Truex said. “It was a good restart in the end. I’m glad I could at least try to make it exciting.”
Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed had a brave run to put the No. 2 Chevrolet in third place.
The key moment came on lap 179 when Justin Allgaier was contacted by JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones. That sent Allgaier’s #7 Chevrolet into the outside wall as it exited turn four while Jones bounced off Kaz Grala and sent the #26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota into the wall with Allgaier.
The upside-down race contained 11 cautions.
Stewart-Hass Racing’s Riley Herbst was fourth while Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith was fifth. Other notable figures included last week’s winner Austin Hill who finished seventh, Kyle Busch was ninth and polesitter Cole Custer finished his run in Phoenix in 12th place.
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