One of NASCAR’s hardest-working veterans earned his best finish of the season on Saturday at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Garrett Smithley, driver of the No. 0 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet, came home sixth for his first top-ten of 2026.
The finish was meaningful not only on a competitive level for a team with limited resources, but on a personal level for Smithley himself. The 34-year-old spent years of his childhood in Georgia and he attended McIntosh High School in nearby Peachtree City.
“This feels a little bit more special at Atlanta, being my home track,” Smithley said with a smile after the race. “I’ve got all my family here, my fiancee’s here. Just a lot of good all around. This is a home race, last race for SLCCNECA.org this year, so hopefully they come back on board. I know they’re up in the suites. So yeah, it was just incredible. Incredible night.”
Smithley rolled off 11th on the final restart of the race. Having survived several multi-car wrecks, he was alongside other underdog contenders searching for a big breakthrough. Mason Maggio was in the top-ten late, and Brennan Poole came seconds away from his first ever race win.
Immediately as the field took the green flag in overtime, Ryan Sieg’s No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet ran out of gas on the second row. A nudge from Anthony Alfredo shuffled him to the outside and away from traffic, enabling the inside row to carry greater momentum into the first turn.
Even as the inside soon began to dissipate behind him, Smithley rallied toward the back bumper of William Sawalich’s No. 18 Toyota on the back straightaway. Scored 12th as the field took the white flag, Smithley surged ahead of Maggio and Kyle Sieg. He inherited another two positions as Nick Sanchez and Brennan Poole tangled and hit the wall.
Barring major catastrophe, Smithley wasn’t realistically in contention for the win. His SS-Green Light Racing Chevy wouldn’t likely outrun the likes of JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Viking Motorsports in a dash to the line. But he stayed connected to the front pack while the cars behind him couldn’t.
As Justin Allgaier led Carson Kvapil and Parker Retzlaff to the line, Smithley cruised home sixth. It was SS-Green Light Racing’s best finish since Chase Briscoe’s fifth-place run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022. Furthermore, it was Smithley’s best placement since the 2018 season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
“Just incredible,” Smithley continued. “I told my sponsors beforehand this is the same car we ran 14th in the spring with. So I told them if I could get a top-ten it would be a huge win for us and anything else would be a bonus. This is definitely a bonus.”
