“Dude wrecked the field and wins, what a joke”: Chandler Smith’s win at Phoenix leaves NASCAR fans divided 

A section of the NASCAR fanbase has taken aim at Chandler Smith after his Phoenix triumph, blaming him for causing a wreck and claiming the victory.

Smith secured his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Despite nudging teammate John Hunter Nemechek shortly after the lap 144 restart, the Georgian managed to maintain his #81 Toyota's balance and rallied towards the top spot on the leaderboard at the Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 race.

However, Smith's chances of raking in another Xfinity win were slashed as JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier was enjoying a comfortable lead over the former. Nevertheless, with just five laps until the checkered flag dropped, Allgaier's #7 Chevy witnessed a flat-out left tire and rammed into the turn wall.

The mishap favored Smith as he took the baton of JGR from there, led the two-lap overtime, and clinched the victory after successfully defending his spot from Jesse Love, who fell shy of just 0.365 seconds.

However, despite the 21-year-old's first Xfinity Series win of the 2024 season, many fans called out the JGR driver for bump-drafting his teammate during the final stage.

One fan called out the 2024 Phoenix winner for creating a wreck fest on the one-mile, robbing his teammate of a potentially promising outcome: He penned down his opinion on X (formerly Twitter):

"Dude wrecked the field and wins what a joke"

Several other fans voiced a mutual concern as they took jibes at the winner:

Some fans expressed that wrecking is in the very nature of NASCAR and said:

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Chandler Smith reflects on his first Xfinity Series win for Joe Gibbs Racing

Chandler Smith's 2024 season has showcased a strong footing into the season, finishing every race in the current season in the top-5 category.

Smith initiated his 2024 Xfinity Series season with a P5 finish at the Daytona International Speedway. The next three races saw him showcasing better runs as he consecutively secured the podium.

Before savoring his victory at the Phoenix Raceway, Smith had already tasted standing on the podium by bringing in a P2 and P3 finish at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively.

The 2x Xfinity Series race winner, who now leads the Xfinity Series driver's rankings, was quick to share his post-race talks with Fox reporter Josh Sims on his X (formerly Twitter) account. He said:

“What a day. We went from dominating, to we weren’t great, to dominating again, to wasn’t great again, just lacked a little bit on (Allgaier). I hate that happened to him. He definitely had it in the bag."

Chandler Smith added:

“I’m so proud of everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s to finally get this first one off the back with these guys. We need to keep racking them up."