XFINITY: Blown engine on “lizard” car hands Garrett Smithley first last-place finish in nearly nine years
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: SS-Green Light Racing, @SSGLR0708
Garrett Smithley picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Mission 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International when his unsponsored #14 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet lost the engine after 3 of 82 laps.
The finish, which came in Smithley’s 197th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since August 27, 2016 at Road America, 297 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #14, the 290th from engine issues, and the 670th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 64th for the #14, the 1,160th from the engine, and the 2,006th for Chevrolet.
Smithley’s most recent XFINITY Series last-place finish in 2016 occurred during his first attempt at the full season, running every race after Eric McClure drove Johnny Davis’ #0 in his place for the opener at Daytona. In the nine years since, McClure has passed away and JD Motorsports has shut down, but Smithley has remained in the sport, both as driver and spotter. While still a rare sight in the Truck Series with just three starts since 2019, he’s since made 76 starts in Cup, primarily with Rick Ware Racing. This included six starts in the current NextGen car in 2022, most recently a 33rd-place showing in the championship race at Phoenix.
Smithley’s current XFINITY ride with Bobby Dotter in SS-Green Light Racing’s #14 continues a business relationship dating back to his first starts for the team in 2020. That year saw Smithley score his fifth and most recent top-ten finish in the series, taking 8th in the fall race at Talladega. Coming into Watkins Glen, he’d driven for the team in 15 of the first 22 races, and only once failed to qualify in this spring’s return to Talladega. A late-race electrical issue had been his only DNF of the year, and he earned a season-best 15th in the spring race at Martinsville.
Timing and scoring indicated Smithley’s car for Watkins Glen was sponsored by Bully Hill Vineyards, a longtime backer of both the Watkins Glen track and road course specialist Ron Fellows. However, the team arrived with a white Chevrolet that carried only small logos on the quarter-panels from the team’s various partners in 2025. An arrangement was then made to add the “lizard” meme derived from the trailer to the upcoming Disney film “Hoppers.” By practice, the logo occupied the hood of Smithley’s car.
Unfortunately, a broken shock in practice limited him to only six laps, ranking him last of the 38 starters with a speed of 76.784 seconds (114.868mph). This was 1.6 seconds slower than the car in 37th of Glen Reen, whose #35 Eternal Fan Toyota turned the slowest completed lap in qualifying with 74.123 seconds (118.991mph). Repairs kept Smithley from taking a lap in qualifying along with Austin J. Hill whose team changed engines on the #53 Southern Ohio Equipment Co. Chevrolet and Christian Eckes in the #16 Celsius Chevrolet. Eckes secured the 38th and final spot with Smithley in 37th and Hill 36th.
Prior to the start, Smithley, Eckes, and Hill incurred tail-end penalties along with Stefan Parsons, who surrendered 26th on the grid due to unapproved adjustments on the #45 Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet. When the race started, Eckes had pulled ahead of Austin J. Hill, moving the #53 to the tail end of left lane with Smithley to his outside. By the time the leaders entered the backstretch, both cars had passed Glen Reen’s #35, which on Lap 4 was 22.1 seconds back of the lead. Just ahead of him in 37th was Smithley, who exiting Turn 1 began pouring smoke from the right side of his car. As Reen made it past, Smithley made it onto pit road, then into the garage. NASCAR declared him the first car out on Lap 25.
As Smithley made it to pit road, a two-car incident in Turn 10 saw Josh Bilicki’s #91 Trim-Tex Chevrolet tangle with Ryan Sieg’s #39 Sci Aps Ford, sending both into a spin. Sieg continued while Bilicki’s car was stuck in the gravel, drawing the first caution of the day. Bilicki lost a lap in 37th, then climbed to 36th after Preston Pardus, Smithley’s teammate at SS-Green Light Racing, pulled behind the wall with the #07 Priority Tire Chevrolet. Pardus returned to the track about Lap 40 and climbed to 34th by the finish. The first car he passed was 37th-place finisher Thomas Annunziata, who after contact in traffic backed his #70 Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet into the outside wall at Turn 11. Riley Herbst finished 36th after his engine on his #19 Monster Energy Toyota started to fail in the final laps of Stage 2. The last car Pardus passed in the closing laps was Sheldon Creed, who after contact exiting Turn 5 was spun into the wall on the short chute, destroying his #00 Road Ranger Ford.
Both Gase entries among those to escape chaos at The Glen
Saturday proved to be a day of mixed emotions, featuring a massive 16-car wreck on Lap 74 after Austin Hill, just back from a one-race inspection for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis, spun Michael McDowell into heavy traffic off Turn 5. Connor Zilisch went on to win, having himself tangled with Shane van Gisbergen as both tried to pull away from Hill at Turn 11, only for Zilisch to be injured after he slipped and fell from his car in victory lane. Preliminary reports indicate Zilisch is still conscious and speaking with medical personnel.
Still, the day saw a number of strong runs earned by those who escaped the chaos of the day. Austin Green continued his upswing on the road courses this season by running as high as 5th before his #32 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet slipped to 7th in the final laps, narrowly avoiding a crash of his own in Turn 5. Green has now finished no worse than 11th in the last four straight road course races.
Taking 8th was the #16 Celsius Chevrolet of 36th-place starter Christian Eckes, his best finish since he came home 3rd at Pocono seven races ago.
Kaz Grala’s return in Sam Hunt Racing’s #24 Overplay Games Toyota yielded an 11th-place finish, his best XFINITY Series run since his 10th-place showing in the 2023 championship rce at Phoenix.
Further back, it was a strong afternoon for both Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen entries, whose drivers Austin J. Hill and Glen Reen have also been saddled with DNQs this season. As the checkered flag fell, Hill came home 20th in his series debut ahead of 21st-place Reen, each a career-best run. Both passed a spinning Parker Retzlaff who ended up the last car on the lead lap after he was turned from 13th position.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the second last-place finish of the year for the #14 in a XFINITY Series race, following Carson Hocevar’s one-off start in place of Smithley at COTA, where he wrecked after 3 laps. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY race at Watkins Glen.
*Smithley’s most recent last-place finish on August 27, 2016 was also the same day Michael McDowell scored his lone XFINITY Series victory. McDowell also raced in Saturday’s event driving for Kaulig Racing, marking his first start in the XFINITY Series since that win. Unfortunately, his tangle with Austin Hill put him 25th.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #14-Garrett Smithley / 3 laps / engine
37) #70-Thomas Annunziata / 24 laps / crash
36) #19-Riley Herbst / 39 laps / engine
35) #00-Sheldon Creed / 50 laps / crash
34) #07-Preston Pardus / 52 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Kaulig Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) SS-Green Light Racing (3)
4th) JR Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing (2)
5th) Alpha Prime Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Mike Harmon Racing, Our Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, RSS Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (16)
2nd) Toyota (6)
3rd) Ford (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
