DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Patience paid off in a huge way for NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) veteran Garrett Smithley in Saturday afternoon’s PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway rewarding the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller driver with a career-best fifth place finish.
The help of five NASCAR overtimes allowed Smithley to put himself in position for the final two-lap shootout which saw Smithley’s No. 0 JD Motorsports Chevrolet rocket from eighth to fifth in the span of fives miles and earn the third top-10 finish in 67 starts.
What made the finish even more remarkable, earlier in the race, Smithley went spinning across the frontstretch grass after a multi-car incident broke out between Michael Annett, Ryan Truex and Vinnie Miller on Lap 106.
“Daytona never disappoints,” said Smithley. “Our goal all weekend was just ride, ride and ride. “We were 30th with about 10 laps to go and I figured we would just ride there.
“The big wreck put us about 15th and from there we just picking away at them. It’s everything for JD Motorsports to start the year like this. We’re running four cars full-time so starting the season with such a great finish gives us a huge confidence boost for the season.”
Leaving Daytona on a high note, Smithley said it’s important for his team to remain consistent with their finishes, even if it’s not earning top-10 finishes every week.
“I’m blessed to be back here at JD Motorsports,” added Smithley. “This is a good group of guys. Hard working bunch and I think we’re going to surprise some people for sure. Even if we don’t get another top-five or top-10 this year – it’s important for our team to stay in it.
“You never know how things will work out and I’m just proud to be the guy driving this Chevrolet Camaro.”
Prior to Saturday afternoon’s race, Smithley has just two additional top-10 finishes, with a 10th at Iowa Speedway last summer, while earning his first top-10 run at Daytona a year ago with an eighth-place run.
“Daytona has been pretty good to me,” added Smithley. “I’ve been fortunate – but it all circles back to my guys on this team to give me the equipment to go out there and compete.”
“I’m incredibly excited for what 2018 holds!”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
