Garrett Smithley finished 25th in Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after battling clutch problems.
Smithley qualified 24th and raced in the top 20 in the race’s first stage but then lost the clutch in the next stage and had to wrestle the car home.
“We salvaged a pretty awful day,” Smithley said. “We had top-20 speed in stage one, then lost the clutch in stage two. That killed us on pit road. We’ll keep our heads up and hit it hard for road-course month.”
Smithley referred to August, a month that schedules three road-course events for Xfinity drivers. The series races next at Watkins Glen International Aug. 4.
Smithley is 20th in series points.
Christopher Bell won the race, his third straight victory.
JD Motorsports PR/Photo Credit Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
