Those who have condensed the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase to a two-driver contest probably haven‘t considered Chandler Smith‘s stellar record at Phoenix Raceway, the venue for Friday‘s Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 Powered by Poet (7:30 p.m. ET, FS2/FOX Business, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
It‘s true that Smith‘s teammate, Layne Riggs, is the only driver within close striking distance of Chase leader Kaden Honeycutt. After completing a season sweep at Charlotte last Friday, Riggs is 17 points behind his Tricon Garage rival.
Smith is third in the standings, 77 points in arrears, but with Phoenix on the horizon, he has reason to be optimistic.
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“That‘s good,” said Smith post-race last Friday after confirming he was third in the standings. “Sweet. It sounds good to me. Let‘s go to Phoenix.”
It shouldn‘t be surprising that the driver of the No. 38 Ford is eager to get to the Sonoran Desert. His average finish at Phoenix is 3.6, a record that includes a victory in 2021 and three third-place finishes in five starts.
Honeycutt is second-best at the one-mile flat track, with an average result of 6.8.
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Overall, Smith‘s aggregate average finish of 7.4 over the last four Chase tracks — Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead-Miami — also leads the Chase field. Both Riggs and Honeycutt are winless at the four remaining tracks.
“We just need to go out there and execute at the highest caliber that we can, and the points will sort themselves out, however that may be,” Smith said. “If we just go out there and execute and take what we can on a given weekend, the points will sort themselves out.”