Chandler Smith wins NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season finale at Phoenix

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     Chandler Smith has won the "Lucas Oil" 150 at Phoenix Raceway, the 2021 Camping World Truck Series season finale. Smith's second victory of the 2021 season came in dominant fashion winning both stages, and eventually the race

Even though Chandler Smith had been eliminated from the post season playoffs, that didn't stop him from proving his place at Kyle Busch Motorsports. As his teammate John Hunter Nemechek, the most dominant driver of 2021 faced several struggles on the road to what he hoped would be a title, Chandler Smith drove free and easy to a dominant day. 

While the beginning to Smith's season in the No. 18 Toyota Tundra seemed disappointing, after weeks upon weeks of struggle some racing Smith punched his ticket to the 2021 Camping World Truck Series Playoffs when he won the "UNOH" 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway . Since then Smith has seen up and down weekends, ones of significant success, and minor disappointments. Last night, pulling an upset victory Chandler Smith proved to his team owner, his sponsors, and his fans that Bristol was not just a one off. He's here to stay.

The fact that Chandler Smith would be fast yesterday should have been no surprise at all. For the first time in a several weeks NASCAR held traditional practice and qualifying sessions, something we've seen very little of as of late. Smith, well of course he won the Cometic Gasket Pole Award, meaning he was the fastest truck in qualifying. That's something he had never achieved in the Truck Series before.

While the young rookie had the speed that everyone else was envious of, Sheldon Creed looked to be the closest match. For most of the race the battle that Chandler Smith faced was managing to fend off competitor Sheldon Creed. Last week Creed faced hardship, scoring the second most wins this season, Creed narrowly missed the Championship 4 during the elimination race at Martinsville. Chandler Smith, in a similar situation battled last years champion, as both tried to prove they deserved to be in a battle for the Championship. I would argue that they won my vote.

Ben Rhodes who hadn't won anything since February, finished behind both of them earning the title, but clearly showing that some of the series finest speedsters were more than Championship caliber.

The following are the complete race results (Click to enlarge):

NASCAR Media