Born to a racing family, Smith began his racing career at the age of four, racing go-karts and microds. Early in his career, he won numerous regional and state championships. In 1995, his family moved from Cato, New York to Mooresville, North Carolina to allow Smith to advance in his racing career. In 1998, Smith joined the World Karting Association, driving for a factory-supported team, and winning the championship that year.[1] Smith also began competing in the Allison Legacy Series in 1998, where he would race for two seasons, winning Rookie of the Year and the championship title in 1999.[2] In 1999, Smith made his series debut in the Hooters Pro Cup Series at USA International Speedway, where he finished last place after crashing 18 laps into the race.[3]
Smith began driving full-time in the Hooters Pro Cup Series in 2000, finishing his first season with five top-ten finishes and a single top-five finish, which came at Myrtle Beach in May.[4] He returned to the series in 2001, starting from the pole at Thompson, Louisville, IRP, and Chemung.[5]
NASCAR
2002–2004
Smith began his NASCAR career in 2002, making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at South Boston in the No. 63 Ford F-150 for MB Motorsports. He qualified 28th but had engine issues mid-race and finished 29th. In October, Smith made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Memphis, driving in the No. 07 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Ed Whitaker. Smith qualified 16th in his Busch debut, but would finish in 39th after a wreck. He made one last start during the 2002 season in the Craftsman Truck Series at Phoenix, again racing for MB Motorsports. Smith qualified 12th for the race, finishing in 30th place after ignition issues ended his race early.
In 2003, Smith joined Bost Motorsports in an attempt to run a full-time season for the team, starting at Rockingham.[6] Despite a lack of sponsorship, Smith had three top twenty finishes and was second place in the Rookie of the Year standings halfway through the season. However, following the July race at Daytona, Bost and Smith parted ways, the team opting to run a rotating door of drivers for the remainder of the season.[7] Smith returned at Pikes Peak, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Innovative Motorsports. He qualified 29th for the race, finishing 40th after having ignition issues. To finish the season, Smith joined Mac Hill Motorsports, driving the No. 56 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the season finale at Homestead. He finished the race in 28th after qualifying 19th.[8] Smith finished the season 38th in points.[9]
Smith ran a part-time schedule in 2004, running for multiple teams throughout the season. He attempted the season-opener at Daytona with Mac Hill Motorsports but failed to qualify. He made six straight races with the team. At Nazareth, Smith practiced and qualified the No. 38 Dodge Charger for Akins Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne, who was with his Winston Cup team during that time.[10] The following race at Charlotte, Smith would fail to qualify for the race and was released by the team.[11] His best finish for Mac Hill Motorsports came at Nashville Superspeedway, where he finished 17th. Holigan Racing hired Smith for three races. During this time, Smith appeared in a few episodes of The Reality of Speed on SpikeTV, a reality show that followed the team. The team would suspend operations mid-season. Phoenix Racing hired Smith to run the No. 1 Dodge Charger for the race at Pikes Peak, where he qualified 19th and finished in 15th. At Memphis, Smith would again practice and qualify a car for a Nextel Cup Series driver, this time doing so for Greg Biffle's No. 60 Roush Racing Ford.[12]
Smith made a return to the Craftsman Truck Series for the season finale at Homestead, driving the No. 06 Chevrolet Silverado for MRD Motorsports. After qualifying 25th, Smith drove through the field and finished in 9th place, his first top-ten in NASCAR competition.[13]
2005–2007
Smith began the 2005 season in the Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet for Xpress Motorsports. However, after being caught up in a wreck in the season opener at Daytona, blowing an engine at Fontana, and then failing to qualify for the race at Atlanta, Smith was let go from the team after failing to find sponsorship. Smith was hired soon after by Glynn Motorsports to drive the team's No. 65 Dodge Ram beginning at Mansfield. After moderate success in four races with the team, Smith was moved to Glynn's Busch Series team, replacing a struggling Brent Sherman in the No. 58 Dodge in an attempt to keep the car above 30th in points.[14] Smith found some success during the season, finishing 15th at Nashville, Loudon, and Gateway and qualifying in the top-ten six times.[15] Despite this success, Smith was released by the team before the series finale.
Smith finished the season back in the Craftsman Truck Series, returning to the No. 06 Chevrolet for MRD Motorsports for three races. During this stretch of races, Smith struggled, finishing 29th at Atlanta before wrecking out at Texas and having a mechanical issue at the season finale at Homestead.[16]
In November 2005, Smith signed with Team Rensi Motorsports to run the 2006 Busch Series full-time in the team's No. 35 McDonald's sponsored Ford, replacing Jason Keller.[17] He successfully ran the entire season with the team, finishing the season with one top-ten, a 10th place finish at Charlotte, ending the season 20th in points. In October 2006, Ginn Racing owner Bobby Ginn announced that Smith would begin testing with the team with the goal to move him to the Nextel Cup Series 16-race part-time for the 2007 season, sharing the No. 01 Chevrolet with Mark Martin.[18]
2007–2008: Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Smith racing at Infineon Raceway in June 2007Smith's No. 01 car in 2008
Smith attempted his first career Cup race at the 2007 Daytona 500, in a fourth car, numbered 39, for Ginn Racing. After qualifying 25th fastest in the field, Smith entered the Gatorade Duels 8th fastest of the drivers not locked in and failed to qualify after finishing 19th in his Duel. During this time, Smith also raced the No. 4 part-time for Ginn Racing in the Busch Series, getting his first top-ten of the season at Fontana.[19]
His Cup debut came at the Food City 500 at Bristol, which was also the debut race of the Car of Tomorrow.[20] Smith qualified 12th for the race, and finished 25th after struggling on pit road.[21][22] Smith clinched his first top-five of the season in the Busch Series race at Nashville. In July, Ginn Racing released full-time drivers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin midseason and announced that the team had added the rest of the season to Smith's schedule before promoting him to full-time for the 2008 season.[23] However, before Smith could run another race, Ginn Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Due to the merge, the No. 14's owner points were transferred to Paul Menard's No. 15, and the No. 14 was shut down, leaving Smith without a ride.[24] Smith finished out the 2007 season in the Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports.
In 2008, Smith returned to DEI to drive the No. 01 full-time after Mark Martin moved over to the team's No. 8 car alongside Aric Almirola to replace a departing Dale Earnhardt Jr. Smith was eligible for Rookie of the Year after not reaching the minimum number of starts necessary in 2007. Despite it being announced that Smith was running the entire season, DEI elected to replace him at Watkins Glen and Sonoma with Road course ringerRon Fellows.[25][26] In June, Smith joined Morgan-Dollar Motorsports for the Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan, driving the No. 46. He finished 17th in the race.
At the Talladega race in October, Smith was part of a controversial finish. On the final lap, Smith made a successful last-lap pass on race leader Tony Stewart, crossing the line first. However, after the finish, NASCAR determined that Smith drove below the yellow line onto the apron to make the pass and handed the win to Stewart. Smith was scored 18th, the final car on the lead lap. After the race, Smith claimed that the reason he went below the yellow line was because Stewart had pushed him down there.[27]
Smith finished the season 34th in points, his best finish being 14th at Martinsville and Bristol. He finished 1st in the Rookie of the Year standings over Sam Hornish Jr., Patrick Carpentier, Michael McDowell, and Dario Franchitti, beating Hornish by 7 points. He also became the first Rookie of the Year winner to finish their rookie season without a DNF.[28]
2009–2012: Furniture Row Racing
Following the 2008 season, DEI would merge with Chip Ganassi Racing and become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The No. 01 ride was shut down due to the merge and Smith was released by the team. Smith joined Furniture Row Racing for a part-time schedule for the 2009 season. Initially a 12-race deal, Smith attempted a total of 20 races in 2009, failing to qualify twice towards the end of the season.[29] He returned to Furniture Row in 2010, this time to run a full-time schedule. His best finish of the season came at both Fontana and Talladega where he finished 12th place and he ended the season 28th in points.
Smith started the 2011 season strong in the Daytona 500. After qualifying 5th, he was running up front less than 5 laps remaining in the race before getting turned by Kurt Busch and hit by Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman. Despite the damage, Smith finished 7th place, the first top 10 in his Cup career as well as the first top 10 for Furniture Row Racing in team history.[30] The following week at Phoenix he qualified 5th again before being caught up in a multi-car wreck during the race.
In May, Smith won his first Cup race in the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington, holding off Carl Edwards after staying out on worn tires.[31] Smith became the third person to win their first career Cup win at Darlington. In the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, Smith saved enough fuel to coast to a 3rd place finish.[32] Smith finished the season with 5 top-10s, 26th in the overall standings.
In 2012, Smith again returned to Furniture Row. At Daytona, Smith finished 2nd behind Matt Kenseth in their Gatorade Duel to start 6th in the Daytona 500. The week after at Phoenix, Smith would qualify well again, starting 3rd. In an eventful race at Bristol in August, Smith had an altercation with driver Danica Patrick. In the closing laps of the race, Smith drifted up the track, turning Patrick head-on into the outside wall. After climbing from her car, Patrick approached Smith's car as he was driving past and wagged her finger at him.[33]
On September 24, 2012, Furniture Row Racing announced that they were moving on from Smith and had signed Kurt Busch to drive the No. 78 for the rest of the 2012 season and full-time in 2013.[34] Smith's final race with the team came at Talladega. Phoenix Racing, the team Busch left for Furniture Row, announced that Smith would finish the season out with the team. However, after Hendrick Motorsports announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been diagnosed with a concussion after wrecking at Talladega, Smith was named as Earnhardt's replacement for two races.[35]
In his 2-race stint with Hendrick, Smith qualified in the middle of the pack at Charlotte, climbing all the way to the top 10 before having engine issues.[36] The following week at Kansas, Smith qualified in 39th, but managed to finish in the top-10, finishing 7th. Smith ran the final races of the season at Phoenix Racing.
In November, JR Motorsports announced Smith as a full-time driver for the 2013 season. Smith made his debut with JRM at the finale race at Homestead. After qualifying 10th, Smith took the lead with 22 laps left in the race and gained his first career victory in the Nationwide Series.[37]
For 2013, Smith returned to the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 7 for JR Motorsports.[38] On the final lap at the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona, Smith was leading while heading into the final turn, but when he attempted to block Brad Keselowski, but then spun up the track, causing a twelve-car crash that injured 28 fans.[39] On May 4, Smith got his second Nationwide Series victory at the Aaron's 312 at Talladega; Smith, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne were racing three-wide to the finish, and despite Kahne crossing first, Smith had been the leader at the time of the caution coming out.[40] At Michigan's Nationwide race, Smith took the lead with thirteen laps remaining after Parker Kligerman pitted, and Smith held off Kyle Larson for his third Nationwide victory.[41] On September 6, Smith stepped into the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports car for Jimmie Johnson in practice and qualifying for the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, since Johnson was awaiting his second child's birth.[42]
Smith won the season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona.[citation needed]
On May 24, Smith was tabbed as a standby driver for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports car of Jeff Gordon in the event Gordon did not run the Coca-Cola 600 due to back spasms.[44] Gordon would run the full 600 miles.[45] On August 10, Smith was hired to replace Tony Stewart in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen after Stewart hit and killed a driver during a sprint car race the previous day.[46]
Smith nearly swept the Daytona Nationwide races by nearly winning the Subway Jalapeño 250. He got edged at the start-finish line by teammate Kasey Kahne in a photo-finish. The spring Daytona race was proven to be Smith's only win of 2014. He finished second in the championship standings to teammate Chase Elliott, who clinched the championship during the autumn race at Phoenix.
Smith's 2015 Xfinity Series car at Road America
Smith was picked up by Stewart–Haas Racing to drive the No. 41 Haas Automation car, upon the indefinite suspension of its normal driver Kurt Busch. It marked the second time in seven months that Smith replaced a SHR driver (the other being when he replaced Stewart at Watkins Glen in 2014). Upon Busch's reinstatement, Smith did not return to the Cup Series until the STP 500, when Smith replaced Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Target car of Chip Ganassi Racing after Larson had fainted the day before the race.[47]
In the Xfinity Series race at Daytona, he flipped over for the first time in his career, causing him to finish 35th.[48]
On August 8, at Watkins Glen, Smith started a fight against Ty Dillon when Dillon dumped him in turn one, costing him a great finish. On August 15, Smith won the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, passing the leader, Alex Tagliani, in the last lap after slight contact while racing for the lead.[49] On October 3, Smith won his second race in 2015 at Dover, after holding off Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
On October 17, Smith stated that he would not return to JR Motorsports for 2016 and expected to join a team that is competing in the Cup Series in 2016. It was announced on October 28 that Justin Allgaier would bring a BRANDT sponsorship and drive the No. 7 in 2016.
Smith returned to the Cup Series in 2016, driving the No. 7 for Tommy Baldwin Racing, a few hours after Alex Bowman was released from the ride.[50] He started his season with a solid eighth place finish in the Daytona 500. He had a dismal spring and summer showing with his best finish in sixteen starts being 22nd, at Pocono. He later rebounded at the 2016 Pennsylvania 400 with a third place finish,[51] matching the best finish in the history of TBR set by Dave Blaney at the 2011 Good Sam Club 500.[52] Smith ran the full 2016 schedule for TBR with the exception of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, for which he was replaced by Ty Dillon as he flew to North Carolina to await the birth of his child.[53]
Smith lost his ride after it was announced on November 17 that Tommy Baldwin Racing would no longer compete full-time after the season was over.[54]
In June, Smith became a color commentator for Fox NASCAR's broadcast of the Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway.[59] In August, Smith joined Joe Gibbs Racing's Xfinity team on a one-race deal at Mid-Ohio.
On November 29, 2017, Fox NASCAR announced Smith would become a pit reporter for Cup and Xfinity races in 2018.[60]
On September 6, 2018, it was announced by Leavine Family Racing that Smith would be driving the No. 95 Chevrolet as a substitute for Kasey Kahne starting at the Brickyard 400. Smith has three top-20 finishes and a 10th-place finish, with that coming at the fall Talladega race. Smith received the blessing of his Fox NASCAR superiors to take the ride with LFR.[61] He said during the LFR stint that he never considers himself retired when looking for a ride, just not in the seat.[61] Smith said that working the 2018 season on television helped him to know the entire NASCAR community better because he was not bound by team alliances anymore and could talk to anyone in the garage.[61] Smith would go on to finish every one of his starts in the No. 95 and scored a best finish of tenth at Talladega.
Smith married Megan Mayhew in 2011, and the couple has two children, a son named Rhett Lee born February 25, 2015, and a daughter named Eliza Grace born September 18, 2016.[64][65]
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold– Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics– Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. *– Most laps led.)
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