Sammy Smith has flown a bit under the radar this season, but that may be about to change.
Smith sits squarely on the playoff bubble in his first season with JR Motorsports. He came over to the bowtie brigade after rising through the ranks with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing from 2021 to 2023.
Smith’s deal with JR Motorsports was set to be a multi-year oportunity starting in 2024. As we’ve recently seen with Hailie Deegan and many others, a multi-year deal doesn’t always make it to the “multi-” part of the arrangement. Smith, however, will be back in 2025 as confirmed to me by himself, as well as the team.
“I’m looking forward to closing out 2024 strong and building on everything we have learned together this season to start the 2025 season strong with my JRM team,” Smith said.
This may come as a mild surprise to anyone not paying close attention to the puzzle pieces that make up the silly season.
In some ways, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has an even more volatile silly season than that of the NASCAR Cup Series. In Xfinity, you have drivers moving up, down and laterally. Long-term deals are somewhat common in Cup, but far less common in Xfinity. For a young driver like Smith, that continuity should help with more career growth.
Smith recently turned 20. He’s has had an up-and-down year in his second full-time season in Xfinity. Having won a race last season at JGR, Smith is still searching for that first win with his new team. As far as he sees it, that could be right around the corner.
“I feel like we are capable of going out and winning at any of the tracks remaining before the playoffs.” Smith said. “We just need to go out and execute like I know we can, and if we do that I see no reason why we won’t be racing for a championship once we get to Kansas.”
Smith’s elder teammate Sam Mayer, who sports a ripe old age of 21, was recently candid about his desire to move up to the Cup Series. Smith hasn’t made those types of comments yet, but with so much young talent coming up from the lower divisions, having his ride secure for 2025 is a great thing.
Christian Eckes, Connor Zilisch, Carson Kvapil and Rajah Caruth are all young, hungry and experiencing success in the lower divisions while driving for Chevrolets. All have been rumored to various promotions, and with Mayer being a candidate to move on, at least one of those young drivers are potential teammates to Smith in 2025.
Among that…
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