Garrett Smithley probably did not expect his 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule to be with three different teams, but at least he is racing full-time. On Tuesday, JD Motorsports announced he will replace Bayley Currey in the #4 Chevrolet Camaro for the rest of the season starting Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, reuniting him with the team for whom he raced from 2016 to 2019.
“It’s great to have Garrett back,” said JD owner Johnny Davis. “He’s easy to work with, has the talent to get the most out of our race cars, and knows when to go and when to be patient. We’re excited to pick up where we left off with him, preparing fast, reliable cars to race.”
Smithley was supposed to run the full 2023 season for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, but left the team after three races following a disastrous start to the year in which he failed to make Daytona and was locked out of the grid at Fontana when qualifying was rained out. His third and final race at Las Vegas ended with a power steering fluid leak, after which he migrated to DGM Racing for Phoenix with whom he finished thirty-second.
Although he had planned to run multiple races for DGM, JD elected to bring him back. He raced for JDM for four year, scoring four top tens, a best race finish of fifth in the 2018 Daytona opener, and a highest points run of eighteenth in 2016.
“I can’t wait to get back to Atlanta Motor Speedway,” said Smithley. “Old Atlanta was my favorite track, but running the Cup (Series) last year on the new surface was valuable, and I’m excited to take what I learned to JDM.”
Currey started the year in the #4 in what was supposed to be his second full season with JDM after placing twentieth in the 2022 standings. However, the team has struggled through the first four races as Currey’s best finish was only twenty-eighth at Las Vegas and Phoenix while Brennan Poole’s strongest was twenty-fifth at Fontana in the #6. Currey has since joined Niece Motorsports for the Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta, while Poole remains employed by JDM.
