TALLADEGA, Ala. At a track where unpredictability reigns, Talladega Superspeedway delivers that in massive doses, and Sammy Smith was fully aware that he needed to make sure that he was not one of the victims.
Starting the United Rentals 250 in 11th place, the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet driver moved up and down the scoring monitor for 15 laps until chaos ensued on the track.
With the assistance of his spotter, Frankie Kimmel, who was frantically telling Smith where to go on the track, he successfully maneuvered through the wrecking that was taking place right in front of him.
Bringing out the red flag for the first time of the race for wall repair, Smith got a chance to collect himself and follow up with the team on what occurred on that lap and what his outlook on his run looked like.
After catching his breath, the JR Motorsports driver communicates to his team that, “Car is pretty good. Balance is decent and just a little squirrely on the bottom.
Sammy Smith (Photo Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)
Going back to green in the 10th position, Smith informed his team that he was going to be aggressive on this restart – vying to earn stage points, and he successfully completed Stage 1 in sixth place, earning five stage points along the way.
Pleased with how his car is handling, Smith assures the team that “Balance is good. I think I just need to go to the middle– top. Once we got to the top, we just rolled.”
Coming to pit road for a new set of Goodyear tires and fuel, the team will return Smith to the field in 13th for the start of the second stage.
Smith clicked off the laps and moved his way towards the front of the field and up into the second position.
On Lap 46, chaos broke out once again, and a six-car wreck would bring out the red flag, holding up the race for the second time.
With a two-lap shootout to end the stage, the team told Smith that he needs to react quicker to communication from his spotter.
“I’ll try to be better at going quicker when he tells me. I just can’t move too fast, or it gets sketchy,” the Johnston, Iowa native tells his team.
Unfortunately, on the restart, Smith got shuffled out of position and even his teammate didn’t give him an assist.
Luckily, Smith still finished the stage in eighth place and at that point had gained a total of 8 stage points on the afternoon.
Once again, the team would bring their driver to pit road for a new set of Goodyear tires, fuel, and a tear-off and returned him to the field in eighth place once again for the start of the third and final stage.
Working his way forward to the fifth position with ten laps to go, Smith tells his team that he wants to go with several of the cars behind him, but the team warns him, “Do not trust anyone.”
On Lap 94, the caution would fly for the final time when another multi-car accident occurred on the backstretch.
Smith got into the left corner of the No. 19 of Aric Almirola, which sent him around and hard into the wall, collecting several cars, but the JR Motorsports driver made it out unscathed.
That is when the fuel game for the field started with several drivers running out of fuel, including Smith, who was unable to make it back to pit road and instead had to coast to the entrance, before receiving assistance from a tow truck to make it to his pit stall.
Sammy Smith (Photo Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)
Luckily, his No. 8 JR Motorsports team was able to execute and keep him on the lead lap for the two-lap shootout in NASCAR overtime.
Restarting 18th for the final 5.32 miles of the race, Smith quickly worked his way into the top 10 and finished the United Rentals 250 in ninth place, moving him up in the standings to the fifth spot, 11 points behind the cutline with the penultimate race coming up at Martinsville Speedway, which will decide the Championship 4 for November 1 at Phoenix Raceway.
After the race, Smith expressed his regret for the incident with the No.19 car of Aric Almirola.
” I hate it for the 19,” said Smith. “I feel like we were working good together all day. I feel like he maybe pinched me just a little bit and when he did it just shot him up the track so man, I hate it for them.”
Knowing that it was a points race and his effort in moving up in the playoff standings, Smith admitted that they could have managed things better.
“It sucks that we ran out of fuel there. We were gonna be in an ok spot, I thought,” he quipped.
“I wish we could have made up more points. It was a good day to get some more points, and we just didn’t. It was an ok day, but we are going to have to go to Martinsville fighting hard.”
Looking forward to Martinsville Speedway next weekend, Smith knows what he has to do, but going about it will take some planning and ultimately strategy.
“We are going to have to look at it a little bit more,” he said. “It’s going to be obviously a points-chasing day, but I think it might be a must-win day too, so I don’t know. It’s just a tough spot to be in, but we’ll see.”
Smith returns to the historic paperclip short track for the IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 7:30 pm ET.
Follow Grace Krenrich on X (formerly known as Twitter) @grace3140 or email at [email protected].
2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway – Race No. 31 Results
2025 NASCAR Driver Point Standings After Race No. 31 – United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway