Matt Mills was initially due to run Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway in the #5 Chevrolet Camaro for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, but his body refused to let him get behind the wheel. With Mills sidelined by the flu, Garrett Smithley will make his second series start of 2022 in Mills’ place.
Smithley finished twenty-first in his first Xfinity race of the year at Charlotte with DGM Racing. His part-time duty has also produced four Cup Series starts with Rick Ware Racing, with a best finish of twenty-first at Fontana, and a DNQ in the Camping World Truck Series at Texas with Young’s Motorsports.
He raced full-time in the Xfinity Series from 2016 to 2019 for JD Motorsports, during which he notched five top tens with a highest points placement of eighteenth in his first year. The next three years saw him increase his focus on the Cup Series with RWR and other teams in spot starts.
While Smithley has never raced for BJMM in the Xfinity Series, he ran the 2020 GEICO 500 with BJMM and finished thirty-fourth.
Mills has run fourteen races in 2022 with a pair of top twenties (eighteenth at Martinsville and twentieth at Charlotte). He also attempted five Truck races with Young’s Motorsports with a fifteenth at Las Vegas.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to compete in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway due to the flu,” Mills posted online. “I have tested negative for COVID-19. I have a great team of doctors around me and they have advised me to sit out this weekend. I expect to make a full recovery and return to competition at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 16.
“Thank you JF Electric, Utilitra and Thompson Electric for the continued support. Thank you to my BJ McLeod Motorsports team for the hard work and to Garrett Smithley for filling in for me.”
