Smith
Chandler Smith. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Chandler Smith To Start From Pole At NHMS

After topping the timesheets at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday evening, Chandler Smith will start Saturday’s Ambetter Health 200 from pole position.

The No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry logged a fast lap of 30.159 seconds (126.291 mph) around the 1.058-mile track. 

John Hunter Nemechek was second fastest, with a 30.199-second lap time at 126.123 mph. He will start alongside Smith on the front row in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 

JR Motorsports teammates Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones completed the top five.

Cole Custer, Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Austin Dillon and Sam Mayer filed into the top 10.

Notably, Ryan Sieg spun into Kaz Grala during practice earlier in the day, with Grala taking on significant damage to his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing entry.

“That was probably the fastest we unloaded all year — we were still making our first run there. We ran long. I was so pleased with the way that it was handling. I thought we were going to have a really good shot this weekend,” Grala said. “Obviously, that’s frustrating. That was completely out of my control. It looks like it was out of his (Ryan Sieg) control too. It’s so unfortunate.”

Grala will utilize a backup car during Saturday’s race.