Sammy Smith
Samuel L. Smith is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet SS for JR Motorsports.
Smith previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series, and won two consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championships in 2021 and 2022. He also has competed in the CARS Tour, where he has driven for car owners Barry Nelson, Marcus Richmond, and Donnie Wilson as well as Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Racing career
Late model racing
Smith began racing at the age of eight in go-karts and then began racing legends cars and late models. His dad inspired him to start racing.Smith made his debut in the CARS Tour in May 2019, driving the No. 12 Toyota for Barry Nelson. He was fourteen years old at the time. He would run five more races for Nelson that year and another in 2020, before running two races in the No. 19 for Marcus Richmond. Smith returned to Nelson's team in 2021 to compete in the race at Orange County Speedway. Smith competed full-time in the CARS Series in the Super Late Model Tour in 2020, driving the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. That year, he also competed in the World Series of Asphalt.
In 2021, KBM decided to temporarily close down their late model team, so Smith moved to Wilson Motorsports for his late model starts that year. He again entered the World Series of Asphalt and won the race driving the team's No. 22 car.
ARCA
On February 3, 2021, it was announced that Smith would compete in the first five races of the ARCA Menards Series East season as well as the West Series season-finale at Phoenix, all in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 car. In his debut at New Smyrna, Smith would lose the race to Max Gutiérrez in a three-wide photo finish with him and Taylor Gray. Smith would then go on to win and lead the most laps in the next two races at Five Flags and the Nashville Fairgrounds. He also won the pole at Five Flags. At Dover, JGR entered Ty Gibbs in the No. 18 and moved Smith to a new second car for the team, the No. 81. Gibbs would win that race and Smith would finish fourth. At Southern National Motorsports Park, Smith would pick up his third win of the season. While the remaining three East Series races were not on his initial schedule, Smith is expected to return to the No. 81 in those three races to hold onto the points lead and win the championship. Those three races are combination races with the main ARCA Menards Series, so Gibbs will be in the No. 18.Smith returned to the East Series in 2022, this time driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He started the season on a high note, winning the season opener race at New Smyrna, after starting from the pole and leading 167 laps. He scored another win the in following race at Five Flags, leading 107 laps. His third win of the season came at Nashville, as he once again led the most laps, with 156. Smith would also run the main ARCA Menards Series schedule full-time, but because he will not turn eighteen until June 4, 2022, he would skip four races at the larger tracks, Daytona, Talladega, Kansas, and Charlotte. He earned his first main ARCA win at Berlin, leading the final eight laps after race leader, Daniel Dye, suffered a mechanical problem. He would get a second win in the following week at Elko, dominating the race and leading 233 laps.
Xfinity Series
On June 9, 2022, it was announced that Smith would drive for eight races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, starting at Road America. On December 6, JGR announced that Smith would drive the No. 18 full-time in 2023 with sponsorship from Pilot Flying J.During the 2023 season, Smith scored his first win at Phoenix; at the age of eighteen, he became the youngest Xfinity Series winner at Phoenix and the fourth youngest winner in series history.
On September 26, 2023, it was announced that Smith would leave JGR after the 2023 season and move to JR Motorsports in the No. 8 car for 2024. Smith started the season with a 23rd place finish at Daytona. He made the playoffs as the 12 seed with no wins, four top-fives, and thirteen top-tens. During the playoffs, Smith scored his second career Xfinity win at Talladega.
Smith started the 2025 season with a 24th-place finish at Daytona. At Martinsville, he wrecked Taylor Gray while fighting for the lead on the final overtime lap, triggering a multi-car pileup. As a result, Smith was docked 50 driver points and fined 25,000. At Rockingham, Smith finished second to Jesse Love, but Love was disqualified after failing post race inspection; as a result, Smith earned his first win of 2025.
Craftsman Truck Series
On February 3, 2023, it was announced that Smith would make his Truck Series debut in the 2023 season-opener at Daytona, filling in for Taylor Gray in the Tricon Garage No. 17 truck due to Gray still being seventeen years old and therefore not able to race there.Spire Motorsports announced on March 27, 2024, that Smith was added to the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for a four-race schedule.
Motorsports career results
Racing career summary
† As Smith was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.NASCAR
O'Reilly Auto Parts Series
Craftsman Truck Series
Season still in progressIneligible for series points