“As good as a win”: Chandler Smith content with finishing between Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger at Watkins Glen

NASCAR driver Chandler Smith recently expressed his views on the Xfinity race at Watkins Glen International. Smith started the Mission 200 at the Glen in P6 and secured a top-five finish after a dramatic race on Saturday.

Chandler Smith pilots the #81 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, competing full-time in the Cup Series. Smith made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series at Iowa Speedway in the 2019 M&M's 200, where he secured pole position and made a P8 finish overall in Kyle Busch Motorsports' #51 Toyota. The 22-year-old has 8 career wins across all NASCAR divisions with his latest win coming in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.

Smith consistently held a top-ten position throughout much of the race at Watkins Glen International. He earned a P4 finish in Stage 1 and maintained that momentum to finish in the same position, between road course expert Shane van Gisbergen and Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger.

Following the end of the race, Smith, pleased with his performance shared his thoughts on the race via his X handle and wrote:

"Road racing and finish between the Dinger and SVG. That’s almost as good as a win. P4 and love @ItsBristolBaby coming up next weekend," Smith wrote.

Ahead of the final regular season race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chandler Smith is P3 in the Xfinity Series driver standings with 839 points, 62 points behind points leader Justin Allgaier. With two wins this season, Smith has paved his way to the 2024 playoffs, which will commence at Kansas Speedway.

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Chandler Smith's JGR teammate Sheldon Creed deliberates on his performance at Watkins Glen despite P2 finish

Joe Gibbs Racing's Sheldon Creed finished runner-up in the Mission 200 at Watkins Glen, narrowly losing to Connor Zilisch, who grabbed his first race win on his debut in the Xfinity Series.

This second-place finish marks the 12th time Creed has come close to victory without securing a win. Following the end of the race, the former Truck Series champion reflected on his performance in an interview with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass.

"Yeah, I mean, obviously you want to win before this point, which we've been close, but close isn't winning. So yeah, now we can focus on Bristol. Obviously, we want to be good at Bristol to lead into the playoffs. And then yeah, winning in the playoffs can be really important for us," Creed said

"And just being consistent, I feel like we've been one of the more consistent teams lately. So we just need to keep that up. Yeah, I think we can make a deep run at it," he added

Chandler Smith and Creed have both booked a spot in the 2024 playoffs. However, Creed will be parting ways with JGR to join Haas Factory Team's Xfinity program in 2025.