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Sammy Smith is one of the hot-shot young prospects in NASCAR. The one who dominated the ARCA circuit last season is continuing to contend in the Xfinity Series even at the age of 19. So, who is Sammy Smith?
Smith was born on June 4, 2004 in Johnston, Iowa. According to his website, Smith began racing legend cars at the age of 10. In three years in legends cars, he won 31 races. From there, he began racing in late models.
Starting in 2019, Smith began running in the CARS Tour Late Model Stocks division. While he did not win a race, he would finish in the top-5 in five of his six starts, and he would finish every race. There were no wrecks, no mechanical failures, or anything of that sort.
In 2020, Smith added races in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour to his calendar for NASCAR superstar, Kyle Busch. Again, Smith did not win, but he was very consistent. He finished in the top-10 in six of eight races and won a pole at Bristol.
Again, Smith continued to keep the car out of the wall. He did have four DNFs between the Pro Late Model Tour and Late Model Stocks, but they were all for mechanical failures.
After the 2020 season, Busch closed down his super late model team, but Toyota was not about to let Smith walk. In 2021, Smith moved up to ARCA competition.
In 2021, Smith began his ARCA career running in nine races in a Joe Gibbs Racing prepared car owned by the late Coy Gibbs. Smith ran the full ARCA Menards East schedule and one ARCA West Series Race.
Overall, between he three series, Smith finished in the top-5 in 10 out of the 12 starts he made. His first ARCA East Series win came in the second race of the season at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. Smith would win the ARCA East Series championship over Daniel Dye and Rajah Caruth.
Three of these races that Smith ran in were combination events with the ARCA Menards Series. Smith finished in the top-5 twice in these races including a second place finish at Bristol behind Ty Gibbs.
In 2022, Smith got even busier. He would run the full ARCA East schedule, 16 ARCA Menards Series races, and two ARCA West races, all for Kyle Busch. Smith impressed once again.
He won his second consecutive ARCA East Championship, winning five races. In the ARCA Menards Series, Smith had his breakout season.
He won eight poles, finished in the top-5 in 15 of his 16 starts, won six races and, most notably, he brought the car home in one piece every time. Smith had zero DNFs during the entire season. Due to not running the full schedule, Smith was not able to win the championship, but he was now winning races.
From there, Smith was able to move up into NASCAR National Touring Series competition. This time to the Xfinity Series.
Later in the 2022 season, Smith ran nine Xfinity Series races. He would qualify incredibly well, with five top-5 starts. The results were a bit more mixed as he would finish as high at third at Watkins Glen, but he also had three DNFs as well.
He would impress enough to land his first full-time Xfinity Series ride for 2023. After a shaky start to the season, Smith would break out at Phoenix.
After starting 11th, Smith would quietly would his way forward. He took the lead for the first time on lap 103, and he would lead 92 of the final 98 laps enroute to his first Xfinity Series win.
Now, Smith is in the Xfinity Series Playoffs and he sits eighth in the standings. Could he be the next big thing at Joe Gibbs Racing?
