TALLADEGA, Ala. — Sammy Smith delivered a milestone weekend at Talladega Superspeedway while going two-for-two in his starts at the 2.66-mile track.
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The JR Motorsports driver kicked off the weekend by announcing plans to join Tricon Garage full-time in 2027. He then went out and won his first Craftsman Truck Series race in only his 11th start after leading 21 laps.
Smith scored this Truck Series win for Spire Motorsports, a team for which he had made 10 starts.
Less than 24 hours later, the Iowa native climbed into his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. He only led one lap, but it was the only one that mattered in the end.
"Man, I'm out of breath," Smith told the CW Sports after climbing out of his car. "That was mentally draining. Thank you to everybody. It was a great executed race by (JR Motorsports) and Corey (Day).
"We did a good job sticking to our plan with getting those guys stage points. I'm sure they wanted to win, but I had a good run there to take it."
What a finish by Sammy Smith!!!
A late surge for the 8 gives @sammysmithSS his first victory of the season at Talladega! pic.twitter.com/k32GF5J0CA
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) October 24, 2026
Smith took advantage of a big push from teammate Justin Allgaier. He dove to the inside of teammate Carson Kvapil, who had dominated the race by leading 67 laps. He appeared to be out on an island, but Richard Childress Racing's Jesse Love followed to the bottom and continued pushing.
From that point on, it was a drag race between Smith and Kvapil. Smith crossed the finish line first while scoring his fourth career O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win. This marked his second series win at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I mean hindsight's 2020, but I picked the wrong (lane)," Kvapil told media members on pit road. "So I would have easily expected the bottom to roll under us through the corner.
"I just figured once we got to the straightaway, the top was going to have the momentum, and the side draft from the outside is really big on the bottom-lane cars. So just didn't work out how I thought it was going to."
This win, while significant, did not launch Smith back into championship contention.
He entered the weekend in a major deficit in the Chase standings. Winning at Talladega only moved him to 108 points of leader Jesse Love, but it helped him check off one of his remaining goals.
"I think we are out of the championship," Smith said, "but we can win two more races. And our goal was to win here (at Talladega)."
