NEWTON, Iowa – Garrett Smithley scored one of the best runs of his NASCAR career Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, finishing 10th in the American Ethanol E15 250 Xfinity Series race.
Smithley ran with the lead pack much of the night and was in eighth place, behind JD Motorsports with Gary Keller teammate Ross Chastain, for the final restart.
The finish was Smithley’s second best of the season. He finished eighth in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
“What a great night,” Smithley said. “It was quite a thrill to run up front with all those guys, particularly near the end of the race when everybody was scrambling around trying to find an open space. I’m very proud of the guys on the ‘Number Nothin’’ team. They did a great job all night.”
Smithley moved to 21st in Xfinity driver points with the fine finish.
Team owner Johnny Davis said Smithley and the No. 0 crew performed very well.
“I can’t say enough about how all the guys did,” Davis said. “We’re a smaller team, but we raced with the big guns tonight. Garrett handled the car well and showed the right mix of patience and aggression.”
William Byron won the race, and Elliott Sadler kept the point lead.
The series rolls on to Daytona International Speedway for a June 30 race.