NASCAR: Garrett Smithley again the center of lap traffic controversy

By Asher Fair | Oct 20, 2019

DOVER, DELAWARE - OCTOBER 05: Garrett Smithley, driver of the #0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, stands by his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway on October 05, 2019 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) /

Garrett Smithley has become one of the most talked about drivers in the NASCAR playoffs because of the role he has played as lap traffic.

It’s not often that one of the most talked about drivers of the NASCAR playoffs is a full-time Xfinity Series driver and a part-time Cup Series driver who hasn’t finished in the top 10 in any of his 42 starts in a given season and has just seven lead-lap finishes.

But 2019 has proven to be an exception, and for no other reason than an overall lack of pace for this driver.

Running 12 laps off the lead lap in the Cup Series playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Garrett Smithley’s #52 Rick Ware Racing Ford ended up getting in the way of the #18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.

Busch was unable to avoid Smithley and slammed into him late in to the race.

Here's what ticked off @KyleBusch at the end of the race at @LVMotorSpeedway.

Contact with the No. 52 of Garrett Smithley. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/rDilsgePLV
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 16, 2019

After rallying from outside of the top 35 due to early contact with the wall to get himself into position for a top five finish, the damage sustained by Busch’s #18 Toyota as a result of this incident with Smithley caused him to fall a lap off the lead lap, where he ultimately finished in 19th place.

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Because of the “insurance” that is Busch’s top-ranked playoff point total, he still locked up a spot in the round of 12 in the second of three races in the round of 16.

But Smithley wasn’t done playing spoiler to playoff contenders.

Now driving for JD Motorsports, his full-time team in the Xfinity Series, Smithley again ran several laps down at Kansas Speedway in the round of 8 opener. Race leader Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing and challenger Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing approached him in a fierce battle for the race lead as laps would down.

Briscoe was on the high side with Bell underneath him when Smithley cut across the nose of Briscoe’s #98 Ford, sending the #98 Ford into Bell’s #20 Toyota and sending Bell’s #20 Toyota across the grass.

THE LEADERS CRASH! @ChaseBriscoe5 and @CBellRacing collide and collect @GarrettSmithley in the process! pic.twitter.com/ZjqmCWJZKO
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 19, 2019

Both Briscoe and Bell needed to pit for repairs. Briscoe managed to rebound for a third place finish, but considering his position as a driver hovering around the Championship 4 cut line, a third place finish is nowhere near as beneficial to him as a win would have been to automatically lock him into the Championship 4.

Bell only managed to finish in 12th place, but he has a huge enough gap over the Championship 4 cut line that it shouldn’t matter. He leads the playoff picture with a 49-point gap over that cut line, while Briscoe is the first driver below it, trailing JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier by just two points for the fourth and final transfer spot.

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Lap traffic is a part of NASCAR, and it is a part of racing in general. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. But after Garrett Smithley justifiably defended himself following the Kyle Busch incident last month, both from public criticism and from criticism directly from Busch, it will be interesting to see what happens following the Chase Briscoe/Christopher Bell incident, as he did a lot more than simply hold his line like he did with Busch.

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