- Sammy Smith will steer Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet in Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway in his first of four NCTS starts this season. Smith’s lone NCTS start of his career came in last year’s season opener at Daytona International Speedway where he started 20th and raced his way to a respectable 14th-place finish.
- Smith, 19, is the full-time driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and will be pulling double duty this weekend. He has logged four top-10 finishes in six races and earned a season-best eighth-place effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Johnston, Iowa native has three previous NXS starts at the legendary Virginia speedway where he finished second and third, respectively last season.
- In addition to Friday night’s 200-lap Martinsville tilt, Smith will be in the cockpit of the No. 7 Chevy Silverado May 18 at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, July 19 at Indianapolis Raceway Park and August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile.
- TMC Transportation will serve as Smith’s primary sponsor on Friday night. TMC Transportation, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 and is the nation’s largest employee-owned open deck transportation company. TMC provides expert transportation services and supply-chain management solutions throughout the 48 contiguous states. Founded in 1972, TMC is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and is known for its integrity, innovation, superior safety record, and dedication to quality and customer service. The company’s claim-free, on-time delivery record is the best in the business and is consistently recognized by its customers. For more information about TMC Transportation, please log on to tmctrans.com.
- Smith is a six-time ARCA Menards Series national tour race winner, who has won eight times in the ARCA Menards Series East and once in the ARCA Menards Series West. The talented teenager earned a CARS Pro Late Model Tour victory in 2021 at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway and four pavement super late model wins that same season. A year later, he picked up another super late model victory in a combination ARCA CRA Super Series/Southern Super Series race at North Wilkesboro. He has also earned wins in some of the United States’ most notable late model races including the Winchester 400, Red Bud 400 and Florida Governor’s Cup.
- After five races, the No. 7 team ranks second in the 2024 NCTS owner point standings. The team sits eight points behind the series-leading No. 11 team. The No. 7 team has complied an average starting position of 3.8 and an average finish of 8.4 while leading 156 laps this season. Kyle Busch led a race-high 33 laps en route to the team’s victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. Most recently, 17-year-old Connor Zilisch captured the pole and finished fourth in his NCTS debut at Circuit of the Americas.
Sammy Smith Quotes
Talk about the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the No. 7 Silverado for four races this year.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity Spire gave me to get behind the wheel of the No. 7 Silverado for these four races and thankful to TMC, Pilot Flying J and Golden Harvest for coming onboard and making it possible. Any time you can get extra seat time it is always helpful, especially now with the new format in NASCAR with not getting much practice time each week. Obviously, Spire has top-notch equipment, and the goal is to go out and try and win all four races.”
How have you prepared for your first NCTS start with Spire?
“With not having much Truck Series experience I’ve been coming around the shop and hanging around with Brian (Pattie, crew chief) and the guys asking a lot of questions and getting familiar with how they set up the trucks. Martinsville is a track that I’ve had a lot of success at, so I feel good about it. I know they’re going bring me a fast TMC Transportation Silverado, it’ll just be my job to go out and execute all day.”
How will racing the truck at Martinsville be different than what you’ve experienced racing there with the Xfinity cars and Late Model Stocks?
“I don’t really know what to expect other than I think it’s going to definitely be way different than racing an XFINITY car there. I think with having the Ilmor engines and the similar amounts of downforce it’ll feel a lot like an ARCA car, which is a series I had a lot of success in, but I’ve never raced at Martinsville in that series. But yes, I’m excited to get in the No. 7 truck this weekend and then for three more this season.”
Spire Motorsports PR
