NASCAR: Kyle Busch confirms another lineup overhaul

Kyle Busch has confirmed another overhaul of his NASCAR Truck Series lineup with the addition of Chandler Smith as a full-time driver.

After confirming that John Hunter Nemechek is set to replace Raphael Lessard behind the wheel of the #4 Toyota on a full-time basis in the 2021 NASCAR Truck Series season, Kyle Busch Motorsports have confirmed that Chandler Smith is set to move to the #18 Toyota on a full-time basis next year.

Smith, who drove in four races for the team in 2019 and 12 races for the team in 2020, including 10 of the last 11, turned 18 years old in June and is now eligible to run the full 23-race schedule.

He is set to replace Christian Eckes behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota in 2021, marking two straight seasons of Kyle Busch Motorsports overhauling their full-time driver lineup.

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After neither Todd Gilliland nor Harrison Burton qualified for the 2019 playoffs, Kyle Busch Motorsports replaced them with Lessard and Eckes. Lessard won a race but did not do so in time to qualify for the playoffs while Eckes did not win a race and was eliminated in the opening round of the playofffs.

SafeLite AutoGlass is set to serve as the primary sponsor of Smith’s #18 Toyota for 15 of the 23 races on the schedule.

Here is what Smith had to say about the opportunity, according to a team release.

"“Since I started racing at a young age, I’ve worked hard towards my goal of getting to compete full time in NASCAR, so being named to drive the Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra and being able to chase a championship in the Camping World Truck Series next year is very rewarding.“I’ve learned a lot from Kyle the last few years, and I’m thankful to be in a position where I can continue to learn from him. KBM is a top-notch organization, and I know that with the hard work from everyone in the shop combined with the support from Toyota and TRD that every time we go to the race track we’ll have a chance to compete for wins as long as I do my part.“Having been around KBM the last few seasons, I know how much Safelite supports their drivers and their racing program. I’m going to give it my all to get them back to victory lane next year and hopefully things will be back to normal where their employees and customers will be able to be there to celebrate with us!”"

Here is what Busch had to add.

"“Chandler is following the path that other Toyota Development drivers have in past seasons where they gain valuable experience driving a limited schedule for a couple of seasons and then graduate to running full time for a championship once they are eligible to do so.“He showed that he could run up front on the short tracks right out of the gate in his first season and at the end of this year once he started to understand the aerodynamics of racing on the bigger tracks in the Truck Series, he proved capable of producing top fives no matter where we were racing. Next season, we expect him to continue his progression and be able to turn some of those second and third-place finishes into wins and put himself into the mix for the championship.“We appreciate Safelite’s continued support during these unprecedented times and look forward to having a contingent of their employees and customers touring the Truck Series garage proudly in their red and black crew shirts this season.”"

In 16 career Truck Series starts, Smith has recorded eight top five finishes with a top finish of second place at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019. He finished in a season-high third at Talladega Superspeedway and Phoenix Raceway in 2020. He has led 93 of the 2,469 laps he has run.

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The 2021 NASCAR Truck Series season is scheduled to get underway on Friday, February 12 at Daytona International Speedway with the NextEra Energy 250.

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