Runner up finish for Smith in Wine Country
On a picturesque weekend in the rolling hills of Sonoma Raceway, Sammy Smith brought the No. 81 Oakley Toyota Camry home in the runner up position for the General Tire 200 in ARCA Menards Series West action. The plan for Friday was to log as many laps as possible ahead of Smith’s Sonoma debut in the Xfinity Series to gain experience on the famous 12 turn road course.
The condensed schedule would roll off with a one-hour practice session, which would see Smith take his No. 81 Toyota Camry to the top of the board ahead of Xfinity and Cup Series regulars. Smith liked the overall balance of his car throughout practice and was learning a track which he had very minimal laps on in his young career. Minimal changes were made ahead of qualifying which saw Smith time in first position early in the session. However, Ryan Preece and Landon Lewis would best Smith’s time and he would start in position number three for the General Tire 200.
When the green flag flew, Smith and the No.81 Oakley Toyota Camry would settle into the third position early on into the General Tire 200. A few early cautions would see Smith continue to run in the third position. After a lap 18 caution, crew chief Jon Leonard would bring Smith and the No. 81 Oakley Toyota Camry down pit road for an air pressure adjustment, and fuel to get Smith to the end. Smith really liked the handling of his car at that point in the race, so minimal changes were made. Multiple strategies were in play after the lap 18 caution; this would see Smith restart in the 11th position.
By the halfway caution for the General Tire 200, Smith would make his way back into the top five charging up six positions since the restart. On the ensuing restart, Smith would start in the second position and settle into second after a few green flag laps. A caution with 20 laps to go would see Smith battle Preece for the lead, once again settling into second place for the long green flag run. Smith would pull out to a lead over third place driver Riley Herbst but couldn’t quite catch up to Preece on the long run. When the checkered flag flew, Smith would cross the line in the runner up position.
Sammy Smith Quote:
“Had a really good run today in the Oakley Camry. Right off the bat this car had some really good speed which we showed in practice. Jon and the guys had this thing dialed in, and it was a really great opportunity to get some laps in before the Xfinity race tomorrow. I don't think we had anything for Preece today, he was the class of the field. We will take what we learned today and hopefully it translates into some success tomorrow".