Chandler Smith explains Bristol issue, mindset facing elimination at New Hampshire

Tonight’s P30 finish was not what Chandler Smith wanted coming into the race at Bristol. A sensor flipped his race upside down. Smith had, perhaps, the best truck in the field. Much like Darlington, Smith had an early problem and found himself multiple laps down early.

Chandler Smith could have been right there with his teammate, Layne Riggs, for the win. He was instead 14 laps down. He will go to New Hampshire fighting for his NASCAR Playoffs hopes and dreams.

24 points below the cutline, the mindset for Smith has to be win or bust. He talked about his night at Bristol after the race.

“I don’t know the specifics of it all, all I know is that is sounds like a little sensor. … It sounds like a little sensor that’s in the engine just wiggled itself out under load, it’s what ruined our night,” Smith said, via Matt Weaver of Motorsport. “I’m a little frustrated because we’re at this high level of racing and a little, tiny, tiny little sensor like that can ruin your day. It’s just, just a little frustrated. Mainly because I knew we had the fastest truck tonight. It was really, really good. Better than we were in the Spring.”

Of course, Chandler Smith was the Bristol Spring race winner. So, his chances tonight were pretty good. Looking ahead ot New Hampshire, Smith is focused on getting the job done.

“Yeah, I’m confident that we can,” Smith told Weaver about winning New Hampshire. “Just like tonight, we could have won tonight, we had the fastest truck tonight, but we’ve gotta cross our T’s and dot our I’s and make sure little gremlins don’t come up.”

Chandler Smith was almost working construction

This season has been interesting for Chandler Smith. Front Row did not plan on having two teams this season. However, they were able to get a deal with Smith put together ahead of the year, and it has produced results. It isn’t clear if this relationship continues in 2026, but if it does, I’d expect it to be a truly formidable team.

Let’s not forget, Smith said he was likely heading to work for his dad if he didn’t get a NASCAR deal this season. Racing was not going to be on his schedule until FRM came in and made things work. He has two wins this season and has shown a lot of great speed.

I think the fact that this team was put together at the last minute has led to issues in performance. Smith’s talent behind the wheel has helped make up for those shortcomings at times. We have seen what he can do in good equipment both in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series. So, it will be interesting to see if he continues racing full-time in 2026.

Chandler Smith at least has a simple plan for New Hampshire. You either win or you likely won’t make it to the next round. Simple enough, right?