NASCAR driver out at Joe Gibbs Racing after deep playoff run

Due to the major and seemingly ever-increasing emphasis on money when it comes to filling a significant portion of the driver lineup in any NASCAR series, Chandler Smith said a while back that he could very well end up working at his father's Smith Construction business in 2025 rather than continuing to compete in a stock car.

Smith, whose admission came amid confirmation that he would not be back with Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2025 Xfinity Series season, reunited with Toyota in 2024 after spending the 2023 season competing for Kaulig Racing and Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series. He even made select appearances at the Cup level with Matt Kaulig's team that year.

The 22-year-old Talking Rock, Georgia native had spent the early stages of his career with Toyota, competing for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series from 2018 to 2020 and Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series from 2019 to 2022. He got his Xfinity Series start with Toyota by competing for Sam Hunt Racing in 2022 as well.

Joe Gibbs Racing plan to have three full-time drivers in 2025, but Smith isn't one of them. Their lineup for next year includes rookies William Sawalich and Taylor Gray. Brandon Jones, who competed for the team from 2018 to 2022 before moving to JR Motorsports, is set to return as well.

However, Smith has confirmed that he does plan to compete in 2025.

He just hasn't named the series, the team, or disclosed how often he plans to be on the race track. According to Jayski, he has simply said that he has "signed something".

As a full-time Truck Series driver in 2021, Smith made the playoffs and won twice. In 2022, he added three more wins and advanced all the way to the Championship 4.

In the 2023 Xfinity Series season, he made the playoffs with one win, and in 2024, he won twice more and finished as the top driver who did not qualify for the Championship 4. He recorded top five finishes in all but one playoff race this past season.

The 2025 NASCAR season is scheduled to get underway in mid-February at Daytona International Speedway for the Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series.