JR Motorsports reveals Sammy Smith’s first paint scheme with the DEI No. 8 font. Check out Smith’s new look for his No. 8 Xfinity car!
[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] recently announced that [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] will drive the No. 8 car in 2025 but with a special twist. Smith will carry the special DEI No. 8 font made famous by car owner Dale Earnahrdt Jr. when he was a race car driver. Now, JR Motorsports has released the first paint scheme for the driver of the No. 8 car with the special font for next season.
On Tuesday morning, JR Motorsports revealed Smith’s new No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. The car has a white base and white number, as there is a slanted black section beneath the side windows. It gives the appearance of a “Magic 8 ball.” Meanwhile, the Pilot on the sides is red, while the hood has a white Pilot with a red stripe.
The new No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet may not be the same as Earnhardt’s old paint schemes, but it is unique in its own way. The “Magic 8 ball” feel is certainly what JR Motorsports was striving for with this paint scheme. There will be more paint schemes for Smith in 2025, so JR Motosports will have more opportunities with its new No. 8 font.
JR Motorsports will bring back the special DEI No. 8 font driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Sammy Smith during the 2025 NASCAR season.
[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] has been using Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s old No. 8 font for Late Model races in late 2024, but the organization is taking its efforts to the next level. On Monday morning, JR Motorsports revealed that [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] will drive Earnhardt’s special No. 8 font, made famous at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., during the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
In a video released by JR Motorsports, Smith is seen with Earnhardt as the two walk up to a covered No. 8 car. When revealed, it has a plain paint scheme with the iconic No. 8 font and Smith’s name above the window. As of now, JR Motorsports has not revealed any of Smith’s updated paint schemes with his new look.
Many in the NASCAR world have been waiting for the day to see the look return to the sport. Earnhardt drove the No. 8 car in a Late Model race after the 2024 season, but it wasn’t a NASCAR event. Now, the special No. 8 DEI font will return to NASCAR, and Smith will have the task of living up to the expectations with Earnhardt watching.
Sammy Smith wins the second Round of 12 race at Talladega Superspeedway. Check out the full results and race recap from Talladega!
The NASCAR Xfinity Series arrived at Talladega Superspeedway for the second race in the Round of 12, and it was full of drama. Chandler Smith won Stage 1, while Austin Hill won Stage 2; however, neither of them crossed the finish line first. Instead, it was the last driver in the Xfinity Series playoff standings that secured the victory.
[autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] won the 2024 United Rentals 250 at Talladega, earning his first win of the year and clinching a spot in the Round of 8. Smith entered over 20 points below the playoff cut-line and used a push from Ryan Sieg to make that irrelevant. It is the driver of the No. 8 car’s first win of the 2024 NASCAR season and his first with JR Motorsports.
Smith has experienced a rough period since joining JR Motorsports, but it all came to fruition on Saturday at Talladega. He might be the only JR Motorsports driver to make it to the Round of 8, too. Smith can now relax and look to secure another victory in the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL.
A last lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and that’s exactly what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day but it was good enough to win …
A last lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and that’s exactly what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day but it was good enough to win Saturday’s United Rentals 250 overtime thriller and earn Smith an automatic berth into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
It was a huge turn of fortune for the 20-year old Iowa native, who came into the race ranked last among the 12 Playoff drivers and winless on the season. He started his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet 27th in Saturday’s 38-car field, but moved forward rapidly from the fall of the green flag, running near the front most of the day, avoiding multiple multi-car accidents and making the move to the checkered flag when it counted most.
“It’s been a really tough year,’’ said Smith. “It’s been a while and it’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to getting better on these ovals and road courses.”
It was high-stakes performance for the young talent, whose only other victory came last April at the Phoenix Raceway one-miler. Just this week with Playoff elimination a possibility, he piqued his team owner’s brain for tips on racing on the Talladega 2.66-mile high banks — his team owner being Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won six NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega including an unprecedented four in a row.
“We sat down Wednesday,’’ Smith said. “It wasn’t a whole lot, but asking him what he would do in certain situations [on the big track]. Feels really good to win again.”
Smith beat RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg to the line by a slight 0.177s with a three-wide battle on track right behind featuring Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith who rounded out the top five.
Herbst was leading with a lap remaining only to get passed in a massive push forward that included a run by Chandler Smith – ultimately both losing out to Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg. Frustrated, after the race Herbst immediately walked over to Chandler Smith’s car and had words with the young driver.
“I was just telling him, he had his teammate behind him and was in the best spot you want to be in and I told him he made a right move but in the wrong place,’’ Herbst said. “He would have won the race and all he did was kill his run, my run and his teammate’s run and let the No. 8 [Sammy Smith] get away.”
Polesitter, rookie Jesse Love led a race best 28 of the 98 laps in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet finishing sixth in a race marked with six cautions, a brief red flag, 11 race leaders and 28 lead changes.
Although relatively calm through the early goings – Chandler Smith won the opening stage and RCR’s Austin Hill won the second stage – the final laps lived up to Talladega expectation. Only three of the 12 Playoff drivers managed to avoid being caught up – to varying degrees – in accidents on the afternoon.
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Two perennial championship favorites and current Playoff drivers, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were among those that led laps – as expected – but were also collected in multi-car accidents.
Allmendinger still rallied to an 11th place showing after his No. 16 Chevy suffered minor damage in a 12-car accident with three laps remaining that triggered a nearly 10-minute red flag stoppage and forced overtime. Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet suffered more damage in the crash and he finished 26th.
Reigning series champion, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was also caught up in the accident and finished 27th. Fellow Playoff competitor, Kaulig Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen – a three-race winner this season — was a part of a multi-car accident earlier, with 18 laps remaining, and finished 36th.
Jeb Burton finished seventh with David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg rounding out the top 10.
Next week’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL will decide which eight drivers advance in the Playoffs. With Smith’s win today, three positions will be decided next weekend. Chandler Smith now holds a strong 57-point edge on the cutoff points position with Hill, Custer, Creed, Love, Herbst and Sam Mayer rounding out the top eight.
Mayer holds a slim 10-point advantage in the final transfer position over Allmendinger and he’s 18 points up on his JRM teammate Allgaier.
Van Gisbergen, who has won three road course races already this year, goes into the Charlotte road course-oval hybrid 21 points back. Parker Kligerman, who finished 12th Saturday despite being collected in multiple wrecks, is 26 points off Mayer for that final transfer position.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (4 p.m. ET, CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Mayer is the defending the race winner.
Spire Motorsports announced on Wednesday morning that Sammy Smith will run select races in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2024.
[autotag]Spire Motorsports[/autotag]’ hot start to the 2024 NASCAR Truck Series season got even better on Wednesday morning. The NASCAR organization announced that [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] will drive the No. 7 truck in select races during the 2024 Truck Series season. Smith is currently in his first full-time season with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The 19-year-old driver will debut with Spire Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway next weekend. Smith will also compete at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 18, Lucas Oil Raceway on July 19, and the Milwaukee Mile on August 25. This comes after Kyle Busch brought the No. 7 truck to victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier in the year.
Adding another 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐧 to our lineup. @sammysmithSS will race our No. 7 Silverado part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starting next weekend in Martinsville.
Spire Motorsports is filling out its No. 7 entry well. Busch, Smith, and Connor Zilisch are notable drivers in the truck during the 2024 NASCAR season. With immense talent behind the wheel, the No. 7 truck is not done winning races this season. Smith should have an excellent opportunity to win as he remains one of the Xfinity Series’ best short-track talents.
JR Motorsports has released Sammy Smith’s first NASCAR Xfinity Series paint scheme for the 2024 season. Take a look at Smith’s new scheme!
[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] needed to replace one of its drivers for the second straight season as Josh Berry moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Last year, the organization replaced Noah Gragson with Brandon Jones, and it has poached another driver away from Joe Gibbs Racing. [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] will drive the No. 8 Xfinity car, and his first scheme has been revealed.
Smith will bring Pilot Flying J to JR Motorsports again after Michael Annett had the sponsor during his tenure with the team. The 19-year-old’s paint scheme features a similar look compared to his Joe Gibbs Racing days with a white number. Most notably, the No. 8 is slanted forward for Smith after Berry’s number went the other direction.
This is an amazing paint scheme for Smith, and it is really cool to see the No. 8 slanted in the right direction, like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s number. The white number adds a better look to the scheme than the orange number on his No. 18 Toyota in 2023. If Smith’s performances are as good as this paint scheme in 2024, he will be one to watch moving forward.
Sammy Smith will replace Josh Berry in the No. 8 Xfinity car after leaving Joe Gibbs Racing for JR Motorsports starting in 2024.
[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] lost Josh Berry to Stewart-Haas Racing’s program in the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2024 season which created an opening in the entry. With Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, and Brandon Jones all set to return, there was only one spot left for the organization to fill and it picked a talented driver for the ride.
On Tuesday morning, JR Motorsports announced that [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] will drive the No. 8 Xfinity car starting in 2024. Smith has been signed to a multi-year deal and completes the organization’s lineup for the 2024 season. The 19-year-old driver leaves Joe Gibbs Racing and currently sits above the playoff cut-line for the Round of 8.
Smith won his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway earlier in the season and could be back at the venue with the purpose of clinching the title in November. For now, Smith will continue to push forward with Joe Gibbs Racing but a new chapter is set to begin at JR Motorsports in 2024.
JR Motorsports should target this top NASCAR prospect for the organization’s Xfinity Series program in 2024.
[autotag]JR Motorsports[/autotag] has at least one opening in its NASCAR Xfinity Series lineup for the 2024 season after the announcement of Josh Berry’s departure to Stewart-Haas Racing. In all reality, that will be one open seat as Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones are locked into contracts while Justin Allgaier should return to the No. 7 car if he doesn’t receive an opportunity elsewhere.
Therefore, the organization needs to replace Berry in the No. 8 car and there is a perfect partnership that is not being talked about enough. [autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] currently drives the No. 18 Xfinity car for Joe Gibbs Racing and is getting closer to finalizing his 2024 plans. When asked about a percentage chance of returning to Joe Gibbs Racing, Smith declined to answer and wanted to focus on the playoffs.
Could the Joe Gibbs Racing driver be available? If so, Smith would be a slam-dunk option for JR Motorsports and one that would represent a long-term situation. The 19-year-old driver has sponsorship with Pilot Flying J, which has a strong relationship with JR Motorsports. Michael Annett used to carry the company on the No. 1 Xfinity car before his retirement.
Smith is one of NASCAR’s top prospects and Toyota letting him walk away would be very, very shocking. The Iowa native has won in his rookie Xfinity Series season but has also been involved in several accidents. Still, Smith is only 19 years old so this should be the expectation. JR Motorsports would be picking up a massive talent and one that could lead them far into the future.
Smith’s path to the NASCAR Cup Series would be through Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing, or Legacy Motor Club with Toyota; however, Chevrolet is a murky one with Hendrick Motorsports being the top team with no open seats. Perhaps, this could be the perfect situation for JR Motorsports to make the jump to the Cup Series, whether that remains by themselves or with another partner.
Let’s just say Smith breaks out, as expected, and dominates the Xfinity Series. JR Motorsports would be able to wait on joining the Cup Series and Smith would be the perfect driver. Not only would the NASCAR organization have an elite talent, but it would also have significant sponsorship with Pilot Flying J, which likely follows him wherever he goes now.
This sets up Smith and JR Motorsports for dominance in the Xfinity Series and a long-term plan for a Cup Series program. It would be the perfect partnership and one that makes sense more than any other possible situation that has been brought up in the past for the race team. If JR Motorsports wants to go Cup Series racing, acquiring Smith might be the best opportunity.
Sure, this wouldn’t happen until 2025 or 2026 at the earliest but drivers with the talent and sponsorship of Smith are rare finds. JR Motorsports would be playing the short and long game, which is one they would not likely lose if they somehow snagged arguably Toyota’s best NASCAR prospect.
Sammy Smith is ‘close’ to finalizing plans for the 2024 NASCAR season; however, Smith wouldn’t reveal odds of a return to Joe Gibbs Racing.
[autotag]Sammy Smith[/autotag] currently drives the No. 18 Xfinity car for Joe Gibbs Racing in his first full-time season and has experienced several ups and downs along the way. Smith had a strong start to the year after winning his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Phoenix Raceway but has struggled to finish races lately.
The driver of the No. 18 car doesn’t have a ride secured at Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2024 NASCAR season and would likely be a hot commodity if he enters the open market. On Tuesday afternoon, Smith gave a promising update on the 2024 season when asked if he was close to finalizing his plans.
“I think we are close,” Smith said. “Still figuring out some things. I have a good management team, and hopefully, we have some stuff to announce soon.”
The 19-year-old driver has shown flashes of brilliance but will that exist with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024? Smith didn’t want to dive deep into the contract talks as he refused to discuss the odds of him returning to his current organization.
“Yeah, I’m not going to talk about that stuff today, I’m here to focus on the Playoffs,” he said. “I know you have a job to do. I’m still working on things.”
For now, Smith will focus on trying to elevate the No. 18 team into a Championship 4 contender. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has shown enough promise to suggest that it is possible if he cleans up his mistakes over the next seven weeks. It will be a challenge but the speed is present for Smith to make a run at a title.
Sam Mayer took a dramatic double overtime victory in Saturday’s Road America 180 at the iconic Wisconsin road course – the 21-year old hometown favorite claiming his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at his home race track; rolling into …
Sam Mayer took a dramatic double overtime victory in Saturday’s Road America 180 at the iconic Wisconsin road course — the 21-year old hometown favorite claiming his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at his home race track; rolling into victory lane, climbing onto his driver’s side window and pulling apart his suit like Superman to a happy and familiar crowd.
The JR Motorsports driver was certainly super in the closing laps on Saturday.
Mayer’s win in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet makes him the 14th different driver to take the trophy at Road America in as many NASCAR Xfinity Series races there. He is the sixth different driver to earn his first career win at the 4.048-mile road course and the fourth different driver to claim his first series trophy in 2023.
“It was just about getting track position,’’ a grinning Mayer said of the frantic second overtime start that featured door-to-door racing among the top four cars and multiple leaders on a single lap before Mayer emerged out front and was able to drive away to a 0.368s win over Parker Kligerman that has landed him an automatic position in the 2023 Playoffs.
“We got it there at the end. I lost it for a second and then all hell broke loose there at the end and we ended up on top,’’ Mayer continued. “This team… It’s so special to get that first win, that monkey off your back. It feels so good. I felt it all day. I felt like if I can do this one, I can do anything and we came here today and did that.
“It’s so cool to get it done,’’ the Franklin, Wisc., native added with a smile.
David Rosenblum/Motorsport Images
Four of the top five drivers on the final overtime restart had never hoisted a series trophy before and pursued then-race leader Justin Allgaier with all the zeal and motivation that you would expect of the situation. Allgaier, Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammate, led a dominating 42 of the 49 laps on the day and swept both stage wins.
Not too surprisingly, that last restart resulted in a manic push among those drivers racing for that coveted first trophy. The racing was three-wide, four-wide, high energy, back-and-forth with so much on the line.
“Second’s not fun,’’ said Kligerman, the driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet who is just on the outside of the playoff bubble, now 22 points behind Sheldon Creed for that 12th and final transfer points position with six regular season races remaining.
“When I got the lead, I just played it a little safer than I should have. I didn’t think the No. 1 (Mayer) would get to me like that. Then I tried to get to him and just couldn’t get to him.
“But I know here in Wisconsin that’s huge for him and his family,’’ he added. “And our day is coming.’’
Last week’s race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, rallied for a third-place finish after a busy day navigating dicey action mid-pack. Former open-wheel standout Sage Karam finished fourth in the No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota.
“It was a great race all around,’’ said Karam, who earned his first career top-five in his seventh start of the season. “The last restart was very aggressive. I just had to get to the lead and had a good move on Allgaier. It was really aggressive and got three-wide. I can’t thank Sam Hunt Racing enough.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst turned in arguably the most persevering performance of the day, finishing fifth in the No. 98 SHR Ford after being collected in multiple incidents throughout the race.
Another of Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammates, Josh Berry rallied to a sixth-place finish with Kaz Grala, Josh Bilicki, polesitter AJ Allmendinger and JRM driver Brandon Jones rounding out the top 10.
Allmendinger won the pole position — one of the sports’s all-time best road course racers — and even opted to have Derek Kraus qualify his NASCAR Cup Series car at Richmond, Va. so that he could compete on the iconic Wisconsin track Saturday. But Allmendinger struggled from nearly the drop of the green flag. Allgaier passed him for the lead six laps into the race and he was never able to challenge for the top spot with issues essentially all day.
Kaulig Racing teammate Chandler Smith also had a rough day. The Xfinity Series rookie — last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion — was traveling at high speed headed to Turn 1 when his car suffered a massive brake rotor failure. Fortunately, the young driver smartly turned the car to the left immediately after hearing parts break and was able to slow it down against the retaining wall instead of going full-speed head-on into the Turn 1 run off area. He was fine afterward, grateful for the solid construction of the cars.
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“I was definitely having some brake fade throughout the run, but I didn’t think I was abusing them, by any means, to make them fail,’’ Smith said. “I was going up the hill on the front straight and I heard something snap and I felt something come off the car and the whole front nose just dropped and when that happened, I was like, ‘What in the world was was that?’
“I went to pump the brakes but there was nothing there,’’ he added, “I was just trying to scrub speed at that point.’’
It was certainly part of a dramatic Saturday afternoon with incidents involving several of Playoff drivers – and several close to the Playoff cutoff.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who was leading the championship at the drop of the green flag, was not at the wave of the checker. He took a wild ride off track with 14 laps remaining. His No. 20 JGR Toyota suffered enough damage going off-track in Turn 13 to force him to retire, landing Nemechek only his second DNF of the season and costing him those valuable points in the standings.
Interviewed afterward, Nemechek was clearly frustrated, “Who needs enemies when you have teammates.’’
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday in the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). JGR’s Ty Gibbs won the race last year.
