HRE Adds Sammy Smith to Drive the No. 81 Toyota Camry in ARCA West competition at Sonoma Raceway
(Mooresville, N.C.) - Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) announced today that the team will field an entry for Sammy Smith for the General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway. Smith will pilot the No. 81 Oakley Toyota Camry for the event.
At age 10, Smith, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, started racing in Legend Cars, amassing 31 wins in three years of competition. In 2019, Sammy turned his attention to Late Model racing, finding success in both Pro and Super Late Models with multiple teams.
By 2021, Smith made his ARCA Menards Series East debut behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. In an eight-race season that saw him find Victory Lane on three occasions, the Toyota Racing Development (TD2) driver finished in the top 5 in all but one race and led 396 laps en route to his first ARCA East Championship. Sammy also continued to work on his race craft with the No. 22 Super Late Model for Donnie Wilson Racing, earning four wins and 13 top-5 finishes.
In 2022, Sammy returned to the ARCA Menards Series platform with Kyle Busch Motorsports, competed with Donnie Wilson Racing in super late models, and ran nine races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Across the ARCA platform, Smith won 12 races, led 1,988 laps, and collected the Sioux Chief Showdown and ARCA Menards Series East championships. Across nine races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Smith collected three top-10 finishes with a best finish of third at Watkins Glen International.
2023 sees Smith moving to the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a full-time basis piloting the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra. The talented prospect scored his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Phoenix Raceway on March 11.
"Sonoma Raceway is a very unique track that can be super challenging going to for the first time. Getting laps in the ARCA West race will be crucial to getting more track time. Finding where my break points and getting my barrings on the track will help with the overall success of the weekend. I know our No. 81 Oakley Toyota Camry will be fast, I hope to be up at the front all day contending for the win," Smith said.
Team owner Shige Hattori looks forward to Smith joining the organization for the Sonoma Raceway event.
“Sammy has shown a lot of potential and we’re happy to have him join HRE,” Hattori said. “He has won some big races in his career and has the ability to be successful with our team. We look forward to having a great run in Sonoma and will be contending for the win.”
The General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway kicks off on Friday, June 9th at 3:30pm PST. Catch all of the ARCA West racing action on FloRacing.