DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – While he wasn’t a factor to win Saturday’s Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Garrett Smithley led a strong day for JD Motorsports with Gary Keller.
In fact, Smithley, 24, earned his career best NASCAR XFINITY Series finish with an eighth-place performance leading a tandem of top-16 finishes for the South Carolina organization, often noted as doing a lot with a little fielding three cars full-time.
“What a great start to the season,” Smithley said afterwards. “We were able to bounce back from being in a couple of wrecks and get a great finish. The guys did a really good job.”
The first career top-10 finish by the Peachtree City, Ga. native was flanked by a 10th place performance from his teammate Harrison Rhodes who also earned his career-best at the “World Center of Racing.”
Carrying backing from longtime JD Motorsports support Flex Shot, Smithley roared from his 26th place qualifying effort and remained in the lead draft for much of the race, despite being involved in a Lap 23 accident on the backstretch which yielded one of two red flags during the 124-lap race.
“The race was intense, but that’s the product of Daytona and the new race format combined,” Smithley told CATCHFENCE.com.
Subsequently, he was also involved in the Lap 104 incident which triggered when two cars made contact and sent several cars sliding through the backstretch grass, including Smithley. Without any serious additional damage, Smithley continued as if the crash never happened.
“It was important for us to have a good run,” sounded Smithley. “These guys work so hard to build these cars and with the new race format, every point is crucial, especially for a smaller team like us. The XFINITY Series will be tough this year, because there is so much competition, but I’m anxious to see if we can keep the good finishes going into this first stretch.”
Smithley’s strong start to the season also carried over into the XFINITY Series championship points, where he heads to Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway next weekend eighth in the standings, the highest of his career.
In one career XFINITY Series Atlanta start last March, Smithley finished 24th at his hometown track.
“I feel really good about going to Atlanta,” Smithley added. “Going to my home track gives me some confidence. It’s one of my favorite tracks to drive and my crew guys are really optimistic about what we are taking there. Just want to carry the confidence from Atlanta to the west-coast swing.”
Ross Chastain, the third and veteran driver of the Johnny Davis-owned team finished 16th.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
