Garrett Smithley

Garrett Kirk Smithley (born April 27, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver.

He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports.

He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series.

Smithley began his racing career in 2007, his sophomore year in high school, in Bandolero cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lanier National Speedway, and won the rookie of the year in 2008.

He credits being cast in a school play as a freshman as giving him the confidence needed to race.

He moved up to Legends car racing with Peachtree City Golf Carts after having his golf cart stolen and buying a new one there.

Smithley credits that relationship as what kept him in racing past Bandoleros, as his family did not have money to advance to Legends.

He was chosen to be part of the Richard Petty Driver Search in his first year after high school.

Growing up, Dale Jarrett and Carl Edwards were two of Smithley's role models.

Smithley was attracted to Jarrett at a young age because of his paint scheme, which depicted an American flag.

Smithley competed in three events in 2013, driving Derrike Cope's cars.

His first start, at Pocono Raceway, was Smithley's first stock car race.

His one start in 2014 was an 18th at Talladega for Wes Gonder.

In 2015, his one start for Rick Ware was hampered by engine problems.

Smithley made his Truck Series debut at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the No. 63 Chevrolet Silverado for MB Motorsports.

He made three more starts in the 2015 season, scoring a high finish of 14th at Michigan.

Smithley made his Xfinity Series debut in the final race of 2015, at Homestead driving the No. 70 Chevrolet Camaro for Derrike Cope Racing, started 34th, and finished 28th.

He returned to Atlanta with MB Motorsports for his first start of 2016, finishing 18th.

On February 16, 2016, it was announced that Smithley would race for JD Motorsports, driving the No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro, and would also compete for the NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.

Although the original agreement was only for three races, he ran every race except the PowerShares QQQ 300.

Smithley returned full-time to JD Motorsports in 2017.

He ran all the races so far except Chicagoland, where he ran in MBM Motorsports' No. 40 car to make room for Vinnie Miller, who was making his series debut.

He scored his first two Xfinity top-10 finishes, at Daytona and Iowa, and led his first Xfinity Series lap at Talladega. The rest of the season didn't go as well in a self-described "sophomore slump".

Besides driving, Smithley has also undertaken a publicist-like role within his team, calling companies before races each week to see if they would like to sponsor him.

He has opened a personal LLC to help with the finances of sponsorship, mainly taxes.

Finishing 18th in series points, he finished in the top 15 in both restrictor plate races, including one at Talladega Superspeedway.

Smithley cracked the top 20 five times outside of plate tracks, but troubles at road courses (such as running the bus stop at Watkins Glen, resulting in an engine failure) put a slight damper on his season.

Another incident at Talladega left Chris Cockrum mad at Smithley; Smithley turned Cockrum off Turn 2, collecting Joey Gase in the process.

Cockrum in the infield after the wreck accused Smithley of not knowing how to race at restrictor plate tracks.

Smithley, discussing his Wikipedia page in a 2018 podcast, shared his side of the story, claiming Cockrum moved up and there was only "slight contact" that led to the wreck.

On February 7, 2018, Smithley was announced to be returning in the 0 car for the 2018 season.

In the season opener, Smithley overcame a spin to score his first NASCAR top five, coming in fifth.

He also switched crew chiefs, bringing Wayne Carroll on board.

It was then announced two days after the race that Smithley would switch numbers with fellow JD Motorsports driver Matt Mills for the next two races, with Smithley taking Mills' No. 15 and Mills taking Smithley's No. 0. Talking about life at-track in summer 2018, Smithley said that he does not like to make friends with other Xfinity Series regulars, since in previous experiences, making friends had made him less aggressive and more willing to cut other racers' breaks.

In March 2019, Smithley returned to the series at Texas Motor Speedway, driving the No. 42 for Chad Finley Racing; the run was part of an effort by Smithley to race in all three NASCAR national series in one weekend.

The following year, he signed with Niece Motorsports for the Charlotte Truck event.

Smithley returned to JDM in 2019.

For throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, Smithley drove a tribute paint scheme to MB Motorsports owner Mike Mittler, who died earlier in 2019.

Mittler gave Smithley his first opportunity in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

In 2020, Smithley joined SS-Green Light Racing as part of an alliance with Rick Ware Racing, debuting with the team at Charlotte in the No. 07.