NASCAR's next most promising prospect emerging rapidly

Several of the young and talented big-name prospects of NASCAR as of late have made their way up the ranks, opening the door for the development of more. Chandler Smith has staked his claim as the next most promising prospect in NASCAR given his impressive emergence in 2019.

Chandler Smith has never competed in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East or West, and he has competed in just 20 ARCA Menards Series races over the course of two seasons, neither season as a full-time driver.

But the 17-year-old Talking Rock, Georgia native made his Truck Series debut this past June at Iowa Speedway, and after qualifying was rained out, he started from the pole position as a result of the fact that his #51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led the owner standings at the time.

Smith turned heads with an impressive debut, leading the 200-lap race’s first 55 laps before Ross Chastain ultimately took over and dominated the race, albeit being disqualified afterward when his #44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet failed post-race inspection. Smith finished in eighth place.

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The teenager returned the following weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and he put on an even more impressive performance, finishing in fourth place after starting back in 25th.

It took almost two months for his next start to roll around, but when it did, he hadn’t skipped a beat. He qualified in a career-high seventh place at Bristol Motor Speedway and finished in a career-high second behind only GMS Racing’s Brett Moffitt, the reigning champion and a Championship 4 driver again this year.

It took nearly three months for his next start to roll around, but once again, he hadn’t skipped a beat when it did. He qualified in a career-high sixth place at ISM Raceway this past weeked and finished in third place behind Halmar Friesen Racing’s Stewart Friesen, another Championship 4 driver, and part-time teammate Brandon Jones, a full-time Xfinity Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Smith’s four-race 2019 Truck Series stint has now reached its conclusion, but not before he made himself known as perhaps the biggest threat to the current field among drivers not currently competing in the series.

With an average finish of 4.25, he trailed only team owner Kyle Busch in this category among drivers who competed in at least four races throughout the season. Busch, the winningest driver in NASCAR history and in Truck Series history, unsurprisingly won five races in his five starts.

Full-time Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton recorded just four and five top four finishes in the season’s first 22 races. Meanwhile, Smith recorded three in a row to close out his vastly abbreviated stint in NASCAR’s third highest series.

Team owner Kyle Busch has already stated that he plans for Smith to compete part-time for his team in the 2020 season, but he was quick to make note of the fact that this is because of the fact that Smith is only 17 years old.

He is set to turn 18 on Friday, June 26, 2020, at which point he will have only been able to compete in three of the season’s first 12 races at Richmond Raceway, Dover International Speedway and Iowa Speedway due to NASCAR’s restriction on drivers under the age of 18 competing in races at tracks of 1.5 miles in length or longer.

At most, he can compete in only seven of the regular season’s 16 races. While he could technically receive a playoff waiver if Kyle Busch Motorsports intend for him to finish out the season as a full-time driver, a la Todd Gilliland in the 2018 season, it may do him a lot more good to continue developing as a part-time, and that is clearly the plan that Busch has, subject to change with nothing having been officially confirmed yet.

Regardless, expect him to shine as a full-time driver at some point in the near future, and don’t be surprised to see him make his way up the ranks. It is worth mentioning that while he has never had a full-time ride, he has won seven ARCA Menards Series races in 20 starts, racking up 14 top five finishes, 19 top 10 finishes and eight pole positions in the process while leading 1,429 of the 3,543 laps he completed. His average finish in these 20 races was 4.35. Excluding his lone non-top 10 finish, it was 3.74.

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As stars such as Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick continue to ascend through NASCAR‘s ranks to join the likes of recent Cup Series promotees such as Chase Elliott and William Byron at the sport’s highest level, make note of NASCAR’s next “rising stars”. Chandler Smith certainly qualifies as one of them based on the clinic he put on this year, even in only 631.6 miles behind the wheel in the 2019 Truck Series season.

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NASCAR’s next most promising prospect emerging rapidly

By Asher Fair | Nov 11, 2019

Several of the young and talented big-name prospects of NASCAR as of late have made their way up the ranks, opening the door for the development of more. Chandler Smith has staked his claim as the next most promising prospect in NASCAR given his impressive emergence in 2019.