O’REILLY: Garrett Smithley’s Roman chariot drops out with mechanical woes at Bristol
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Garrett Smithley, @GarrettSmithley
Garrett Smithley picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Suburban Propane 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his unsponsored #0 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet had suspension issues after 176 of 300 laps.
The finish, which came in Smithley’s 211th series start, was his first of the season and first in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since August 9, 2025 at Watkins Glen, 19 races ago. In the O’Reilly series rankings, it was the 23rd for the #0, the 28th due to the suspension, and the 686th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 58th from the suspension, the 91st for the #0, and the 2,034th for Chevrolet.
For his second season driving for Bobby Dotter’s team SS-Green Light Racing, Smithley now pilots car #0, a number which has special significance to the driver’s career. It was with the now-shuttered JD Motorsports that Smithley ran what he called the “Number Nuthin’” for most of his starts from 2016 through 2019. Last month at Darlington saw Smithley run a “throwback” version to JDM’s red-and-yellow Chevrolets, part of an unofficial reunion for former crew members of the team. Smithley finished 27th that day, which other than his 14th-place showing in Atlanta has been about the team’s average finish. He also failed to qualify for the season opener at Daytona and was replaced by Alex Labbe in COTA, then Cole Custer in Las Vegas.
With sponsorship limited, these last few weeks have seen Smithley and team run particularly creative paint schemes. Two rounds ago in Martinsville, the team ran a Frutiger Aero-inspired Windows ’98 motif, complete with mascot “Clippy.” Last week, for the holiday weekend in Rockingham, Smithley partnered with a ministry to run an Easter-themed paint scheme. For this week’s race at Bristol, known as “The Last Great Coliseum,” the team elected a Roman Coliseum motif featuring a mural of a horse-drawn chariot across a sand-colored base scheme.
Smithley was one of exactly 38 drivers entered for as many starting spots in Saturday’s race. Of those entrants, he ranked 31st with a best lap of 16.195 seconds (118.481mph). He was 10th on track to take his qualifying lap, which ended up third-slowest of those that were completed at 16.427 seconds (115.808mph), good enough for the 35th spot on Owner Points.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was “Dash 4 Cash” contender Rajah Caruth, whose Jordan Anderson Racing #32 Chevrolet would be sponsored by HendrickCars.com for the first time. Caruth ran 24th in practice, but a mechanical issue prevented him from taking a qualifying lap and incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. Also docked was 9th-place qualifier Carson Kvapil, who needed an engine change on his #9 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet.
NASCAR instructed Kvapil to line up ahead of Caruth, so when the green flag dropped, intervals indicated Kvapil crossed the line in 36th (3.854 seconds back of the lead) ahead of 37th-place Caruth (4.020) and new last-place runner Blake Lothian (4.195), who this week swapped rides with teammate and team owner Joey Gase into the #35 The Texas Lawbook Toyota. Just a few seconds later, as the field entered Turn 3, Mason Maggio’s #91 S I Yachts Chevrolet snapped loose on the inside line, then Ryan Ellis’ #02 Demco Chevrolet got into the left-rear corner of his bumper, sending Maggio into a spin. Smithley narrowly avoided Maggio as he pulled to the left in front of Caruth with Lothian following both past, dropping Maggio to last place.
Maggio somehow avoided contact and made it to pit road on Lap 2, where the crew only noticed a slight bend to the left-rear corner of his car. “10-4, I'm all good,” said the driver. I” felt me getting turned there. . .I think we just got a little free and they didn't anticipate it.” On the Lap 7 restart, Maggio quickly dropped Lothian back to last place. By Lap 11, Lothian crew talked him through his line, telling him, “Gotta make sure we wrap the bottom tight there” and to “manage the brake pedal.” By Lap 18, Maggio had climbed to 36th, dropping Gase to 37th in his unsponsored white #55 Chevrolet. By Lap 22, the gap between the final two cars stayed about a half-second. And coming around to start Lap 28, race leader William Sawalich got to his outside to put him a lap down, followed shortly by a now 37th-place Smithley. In this traffic, Kyle Larson caught and passed Sawalich for the lead, so it was Larson’s #88 that lapped 36th-place Gase on Lap 30.
On Lap 50, Lothian made it past Smithley to drop the #0 to last place, and both soon lost a second lap to the leaders. Smithley’s team radio had heavy interference, making it difficult to discern what driver and team were saying. On Lap 63, the second caution fell after Austin Green’s #87 Peterson Racing Chevrolet bounced off the Turn 2 wall and slowed in the high lane. Green came in for a stop and considered making a second for the crew to look behind the right-front wheel. But with Stage 1 coming up, and Green already one lap down in 37th, the decision was made to wait until the end of the stage. Thus, when the race restarted on Lap 71, Smithley remained in last, and Green climbed to the 35th spot by the end of the stage. Green then pitted under the caution, but his stop extended past the restart on Lap 98, dropping him three laps down and into last place. The car had slipped a belt, and a bolt was missing on the front of the engine. The crew managed to replace the belt and send him out on Lap 102, six laps down, just in time for the third caution to fall. This one involved Smithley, who tangled with Logan Bearden’s #42 T3 Vodka Chevrolet and spun to the apron of Turn 4.
Moving forward, Green and team discussed their strategy for the rest of the race. He wouldn’t lag in the back as the team didn’t want him to lose more laps, but he’d also keep his nose clean if trouble broke out ahead of him. It was a challenging thing to do at Bristol of all places, but driver and team did their best. On Lap 149, when Green lost a seventh lap, the spotter warned him that Lavar Scott in the #45 TruShine Car Wash Chevrolet and Anthony Alfredo in the #96 Ohio Logistics Chevrolet were trying to wreck each other. No cautions fell until the end of Stage 2, and Green closed to within two laps of 37th-place Smithley, who was now five laps down. That gap grew by another two laps as Green pitted to have the engine bolt replaced. He was cautioned to give the crew enough room to work under the hood. During the stop, Green reported his water pressure was “95 going to 100,” the water temperature at 280, so the crew removed tape from the nose. This was the same caution where Brad Perez took over for Logan Bearden in the #42, dropping three laps down into 36th.
By the Lap 183 restart, Smithley was losing laps and soon pulled behind the wall, where he took last from Green on Lap 187. Radio communications were still difficult to hear, but Smithley tweeted his car lost all its rear gear oil, cutting their race short. The team wasn’t listed as “out” until the final 20 laps.
Taking the 37th spot was Mason Maggio, who after his first-lap spin had a sudden and catastrophic engine failure entering Turn 3, releasing a large plume of white smoke and a trail of fluid from Turn 4 to the garage area. There, his car caught fire, forcing a quick exit from the cockpit. Taking the 36th spot was Anthony Alfredo, who suffered left-front damage in a Lap 283 spin into the inside wall, but managed to finish under power, 13 laps down. Green came home three laps ahead of Alfredo with Lothian in 34th, another five laps in front.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #0 in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since November 6, 2021, when Jeffrey Earnhardt crashed his #0 Forever Lawn Chevrolet at Phoenix.
*It was the first for the #0 in an O’Reilly race at Bristol since March 21, 2009, when Steve Grissom’s #0 Cash4Gold.com / Racing 1-800-527-1801 Chevrolet had a vibration after just 2 laps of the Scotts Turf Builder 300. This was Grissom’s eighth and final series last-place finish.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #0-Garrett Smithley / 176 laps / suspension
37) #91-Mason Maggio / 191 laps / engine
36) #96-Anthony Alfredo / 287 laps / running
35) #87-Austin Green / 290 laps / running
34) #35-Blake Lothian / 295 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM (2)
2nd) AM Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hettinger Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (6)
2nd) Ford (3)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
