At 15 years old, Chandler Smith is making a name for himself in the ARCA Racing Series and returns this weekend at Madison for Venturini Motorsports. Smith returns to the ARCA Series after a 4th place finish at Toledo a couple of weeks ago. “I’m really excited to get back with Venturini Motorsports at Madison,” Smith said. “I’ve never been to Madison before so it will be interesting to see how I adapt to the track. It should be interesting and I know I will give it my all,” Smith continued.
Chandler Smith is coming into this weekend at Madison sitting on pole in every ARCA race he has entered this season and says it would be cool to make 4 in a row. “It would be nice to make it four in a row,” Smith commented. “I made some history at Toledo with 3 poles in a row and hopefully we can get one this weekend,” Smith stated excitedly.
Smith grew up watching racing and decided to try it out. He started out in Go Karts followed by Banderos, Late Models and Super Late Models. He also had a lot of support from Toyota throughout his racing career.
Something you may not know about Chandler Smith is that he also played basketball for most of his life but gave it up to focus on racing. “I played basketball all my life through high school, but I had to give it up because it was too much with the racing,” Smith remarked. “I still play when I have some free time with my friends,” Smith continued.
Smith also has to balance racing along with school. Sure, he may be out for the summer but he says it was tough balancing the two things while racing. “It was really hard on me throughout the school year racing,” Smith commented. “I finally was able to get some tests made up throughout the year. It was hard but you have to do what you have to do,” Smith said.
Smith has gotten a lot of attention this season in the ARCA racing series. He says it doesn’t really get in his head although he does enjoy it. “I don’t really let the attention get to me,” Smith remarked. “It has been nice getting a lot of attention and people taking notice in your career, but I just have to go out there and continue to perform,” Smith continued.
Smith has sat on the pole in the three ARCA races he has ran this season. He is excited about going to Madison to try and get his first win of the season. He will have to get around the MDM cars to get the win as MDM has won all but two races so far this season. The other two wins came from Venturini Motorsports but Smith is ready for the challenge. “We have run with those guys all season,” Smith stated. “I think we have a good shot at the win this weekend. The Venturni guys have worked so hard all year long, and I think we have a really good shot of getting a win at Madison,” Smith commented.
The ARCA Race at Madison is Friday June 15th. Coverage begins at 8 PM on MAVTV.