Smith hoping to catch Elliott in Nationwide points battle
Nationwide is running at Kansas on Saturday and then Charlotte next week. The series will take a two-week break before the season concludes with Texas (Nov. 1), Phoenix (Nov. 8) and Homestead (Nov. 15).
Four of the final five races will be contested on 1.5-mile racetracks, including Kansas.
On Friday, Smith confirmed that he has signed a one-year contract extension with JR Motorsports, a Nationwide team co-owned by Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick. Earnhardt had announced Smith’s new agreement earlier this week on Twitter.
“@ReganSmith and @JRMotorsports just finished the paperwork that keeps him in the 7 car for 2015. Couldn’t be more pleased about this,” Earnhardt tweeted on Wednesday.
Smith, the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet, made his Nationwide debut with JRM in the 2012 season-finale at Homestead, a race in which he scored his first career victory in the series. Last year, Smith finished third in Nationwide points. He has scored one win and a series-best 24 top-10 finishes this season.
“Excited to be back,” Smith said of his contract renewal with JRM. “I’ve been fortunate to have a great place to call home and a great place to race at with good people, good sponsors and fast race cars. As a driver, that’s something you always look for and it’s important. You want to have an opportunity to go out there and showcase what you can do every week, and I’m fortunate enough to have that.
“As bosses, Dale, Kelley and Mr. H. (Hendrick) have been absolutely amazing to me. I’ve learned a lot over the past two years. And I’m sure I will learn a lot more next year.”
One year ago at Kansas, Smith led a race-high 81 laps but ended up finishing third after he was on pit road just before a caution came out and had to rally late in the race.
“The season is really starting to wind down, and now is the time we have to be making gains in the points,” he said. “At this point, we have to be finishing better than our competition. There isn’t any room left for mistakes or poor finishes.”
Elliott will compete in a NASCAR national touring series race at Kansas for the first time. Two of his three wins in Nationwide this season have occurred on a 1.5-mile track (Texas and Chicagoland).
Forty-three teams are on the entry list for the Kansas Lottery 300. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard are those Sprint Cup regulars scheduled to compete in this race. Kenseth is the race defending winner.
Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, Oct. 4. Race: Kansas Lottery 300. Site: Kansas Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 3:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2013 Winner: Matt Kenseth. Television: ESPN2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
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