So close and yet so far. Chandler Smith certainly thought he was a contender for a first-place finish at Pacific Office Automation 147 this weekend. The 21-year-old had a good race too, running wheel-to-wheel with first and second-placed Creed and Justin Allgaier with 18 laps to go. Despite finishing 9th on the same track last season, Smith was determined to improve his position this year and would have done so had he not been forced to retire his car from the track, much to the disappointment of Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Jeff Meendering.

Smith unfortunately finished with a DNF with 8 laps to go at Turn 12 with a damaged front nose, in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity season. As a result, Cole Custer, who finished sixth on Saturday, has taken the championship lead (475 points) by 18 points over Austin Hill (457 points) and Chandler Smith (457 points).

What went wrong for Chandler Smith?

A six-car pileup on Lap 68 ended both Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones’ race prematurely. Brennan Poole and Blaine Perkins spun into each other on Turn 12, interrupting the race. This action threw Perkins into the path of Josh Bilicki and Brandon Jones, who drove head-on into the tire barriers. Andre Castro, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Sieg, and Herbst were also involved simultaneously.

Consequently, Smith was rear-ended and forced into the car ahead of him, resulting in the engine blowing. The result was particularly frustrating for Smith, who was looking to build on the already impressive season that has seen him take two wins, eight top-10 finishes, and six top-five finishes. Joe Gibbs Racing also has a good record at Portland International Raceway, with 3 top-10 finishes, and 44 lead laps in six starts in the Xfinity Series.

With five road courses in the 2024 Xfinity Series season, some drivers and fans believe NASCAR’s road course experience is chaotic, particularly during restarts. In the post-race interview, Chandler Smith talked on similar lines, even taking digs at some racers for their antics, “Restart starting getting dicey and leaders playing games and unfortunately, when you’re in the back, that’s when you get hit by, but it happened with us upfront. So that sucks but ultimately ended up getting run over from behind and got pushed into the guy in front of me and put a hole in the radiator and blew the engine. I hope we took notes today at what happened with people pretty much wrecking themselves to make up speed and whatnot and cheating it.”

As a result, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen passed race leader Justin Allgaier with just three laps to go to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway. This is van Gisbergen’s first win in 13 starts in the series. The three-time Supercars champion was certainly looking for that breakthrough after his debut NASCAR win last year. And it looks like his chance has finally come!

SvG heads into the playoff in style!

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While Chandler Smith’s day couldn’t have been worse, there’s one man who finally saw his NASCAR dream materialize. Hailing from the Down Under, Shane van Gisbergen debuted in NASCAR with a dream and a purpose. After getting to the high grounds in the Supercars Championship back home, his eyes were set on a new prize this time. And it looks like the Kiwi is one step closer to that!

While an unfortunate pileup cleared out some prominent names, a chance dawned upon the Kaulig Racing. Fighting tooth and nail on a restart with Justin Allgaier, Gisbergen took the checkered flag. And boy was he thrilled!

In a post-race interview, the 35-year-old dissected his own run as he talked about the racing experience, saying, “What a day. It was really cool, had some great racing. I need to get better at my restarts and learn how to position, but that was so much fun. Really, really cool racing.” Furthermore, he also apologized to pole sitter Sam Mayer for making contact with him. “Hey, firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the 1 team for the first corner. I just marked up there and clipped him, so very sorry. He got back well,” the racer said.

As for Chandler Smith, he has already qualified for the playoffs by winning two races at Phoenix and Richmond, barring any unforeseen circumstances causing him to miss a race. Depending on how well he performs in the 2024 Xfinity Series, Smith could have the opportunity to replace Martin Truex Jr at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series next year. The 43-year-old JGR racer has been subject to retirement rumors and at the age of 21, Smith is a championship-winner caliber racer and a long-term candidate. However, his main focus will now be on Sonoma, where Smith will try to get back to victory lane.

Do you think Chandler Smith will win the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250? Let us know in the comments!