Quick Quiz: With Chandler Smith

Charles Krall (ARCA): It is time for Ten Questions Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 20 for Venturini Motorsports. Chandler had a good start to his season picking up the win at Phoenix in his first start of the year. Chandler, a lot of people know who you are because you win – a lot – but they may not know some of the things you like to do away from the racetrack. This should be a lot of fun. We’ll dive right into it. Question one, if you could go on vacation anywhere in the world where would you want to go?

Chandler Smith (driver): Austria. No where specific but I would want it to be in the Alps. It’s been one of my bucket list places to go to the Alps and go snowboarding and see the mountains. Definitely Austria.

CK: I kind of liked Austria from, and this movie is way before your time, from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They did a little tour through Austria which I thought was kind of fun. So what is your favorite thing to go away from the racetrack? I know a lot of drivers your age are into iRacing and the sims, but is there anything you really like to do when you’re away from the track?

CS: I really like to travel and be a little adventurous and drive around and see things I have never seen before. I like to see all of the state parks near me and go hiking and running and do stuff of that nature. I haven’t been big in sim racing for a while until now. It’s been a while. I am a little rusty but that’s a story for another day. I like to just drive around on a sunny day like today and just take it all in.

CK: I think nine wins in 20 starts in a real race car makes up for the rustiness on the sim side of things.

CS: I can’t do that whole thing on the simulator. I am a little a better on different simulators but for some reason on iRacing I am not good at it.

CK: We’ll get you up to speed on before too long. So I haven’t been in high school for thirty years. I wasn’t good with numbers. I was good with reading and English, the writing part of it. What is your favorite class in school and what has been your least favorite class to deal with in school?

CS: In high school, I really liked government and economics, history and anything to do with business. I hated English and I hated science. I was okay with science. It was a love hate relationship. I was okay in math until I started missing a lot of days and I had to catch up and it never really got explained.

CK: Math was not my forte and it’s still not. If you could pick anyone, alive or not, in racing or not, to give you a pre-race pep talk at dinner who would it be and where would you want to go?

CS: That’s a good question. There are a lot of wise race car drivers that have come through the ranks like the guy I drive for now, Kyle Busch. I got to him for quite a few things and rely on him quite a bit. I have always looked up to Jimmie Johnson. He has been a big idol of mine. The fact he has won seven championships is mind blowing. It would probably be him and I would take him to Panda Express.

CK: Nice! There is a Panda Express in my neighborhood now, they just opened one. Rock on.

CS: They need to open a Panda Express in Jasper, Georgia. If there are any managers listening you definitely need to put one in Jasper.

CK: Okay everyone let’s help Chandler out on this one. This next question is interesting because you are still a very young guy, so you have some some of these guys like Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson set this example for you. What type of example do you want to set for those drivers who come in after you, the quarter midget drivers who look up to Chandler Smith the guy who has just dominated the ARCA Menards Series?

CS: My biggest thing growing up in racing, my dad always told me, was always be respectful and clean and it will always come back to you. I have had my share of success and so far his theory has been correct. I always try to be respectful and be a clean racecar driver. There was a few rough years when I didn’t get the performances that I needed but these past few years I definitely have been stepping my game up. The performance has been there. That theory is something my dad has taught me and he does nothing with racing. He doesn’t know anything about it. His background isn’t racing so I thought it was cool he gave me that piece of advice and it ended up paying off for me in the long run. My biggest thing was that and not to over think situations. I have found that any situation in racing I over think it ends up on the downside for me. If you just go out there and do your job do what you think is right it ends up in your favor.

CK: I can confirm.

CS: It doesn’t even have to do with racing.

CK: That’s life. Trust me, I can confirm as someone who over thinks everything.

Way back in 1991, I was listening to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol on my way home from picking this car up. It was my first car, it was a 1985 Dodge Omni four-door. It topped out at 82 miles per hour downhill with a tailwind so it wasn’t the sportiest car out there. What was the first car you ever had? And was it a car you always dreamed about or was it just a car in trhe family that you got to tool around in?

CS: The first car-slash-truck that I ever had was a 2017 limited edition blue Tacoma. Unfortunately I just got rid of that about four months ago. But I did get a 2020 Toyota Avalon TRD edition. That thing is really mean and I love it.

CK: I bet that’s a little quicker than that Dodge Omni.

CS: Very. Surprisingly that little Avalon will get up and go.

CK: Especially with that TRD package!

I see you, despite that fact that you’re not even old enough to vote yet which is amazing to me because of all of the success you’ve had, but I see you as a true leader on your race team. You motivate those guys and you get the results. What do think your biggest contribution is to the Venturini Motorsports team?

CS: It’s funny you ask that. I got asked the same exact question in Phoenix. I think the biggest thing I bring to my team is confidence. I got told one time by someone who is very successful in life, hus business had nothing to do with racing, he sat down with me and I asked him how he did it. He said no matter what situation he got himself into he always looked at the upside of things. If you look at the good side of things, everyone around you that does their job with you it will always end up working out in your favor. I started doing that about four years ago. Before that I wasn’t someone who had a lot of self confidence.

CK: It’s funny you say that because I still remember the first time I watched you race at the Winchester 400 and you seemed very confident up in the high banks at one of the toughest race tracks in the country. So let’s pretend it’s race day. What pre-race rituals do you have before you climb aboard the racecar?

CS: Go to the bathroom. I am so paranoid I am going to have to come in after I eat a hot dog with chili, which I have never done that. I have had Panda Express before a race and it’s a little spicy. I am a little paranoid that one of these days I am going to pull a Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen.

CK: Let’s not do that.

CS: I go to the bathroom every time.

CK: That’s worse than the other situation in the race car. I think we have actually seen this next situation in the race car with you. Let’s pretend we are at Salem, which would have been the next race on the schedule. It’s the last lap, you are running second. The guy in front of you is your teammate. You have already been in this situation with Christian Eckes a couple of years ago. Knowing what you know now, how does that final lap play out?

CS: The 20 team is going to be in Victory Lane and my teammate is going to be second, it’s as simple as that?

CK: So how do we go about making that happen?

CS: It’s situation dependent. There are so many variables that go into a last lap move that could end up having a different outcome than you want. It’s situation dependent and you have to be in the moment to see what happens.

CK: But you are pretty confident you can make it happen?

CS: I am going to try everything in my body to do it.

RACING-REFERENCE: Chandler Smith Career Statistics

CK: I like it. I have mentioned this before but it’s the old Jimmy Spencer “all is fair in love, war, and the last lap.”

The question that Michael Self wanted to ask you, and I don’t know that you two have ever talked about this in person, but he actually paid you a pretty big compliment, he said you are one of the most naturally talented drivers he has ever gone up against. He wants to know, what do you do to study and to learn and to get yourself ready to compete at such a high level? Do you go back and work on the simulator? Do you review tape? Is this just pure talent or are you working on it?

 CS: I don’t do a lot of the studying part of it. That all goes back to don’t over think it, just got out and do your job. The one thing I do do, I am doing a few Trans Am races this year at Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen, I will go look at some tape to get a geographic look at the track so I don’t go out there blindfolded. Other than that, there is not much I will do. If I ask for data from the team I  ask for throttle and brake traces to get a general what previous drivers have done there. Then I will make up my own little data sheet and go out there and try a few things that previous drivers have done and put my own little spin on it. There is not much.

I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not. I have been told by some crew chiefs that that’s horrible and I need to do a better job and watch more tape.

Maybe they are right but to be completely honest I don’t do a bunch of so-called studying. I go out there and do my job and do what I feel needs to be done out there.

CK: Man, if this is just based on raw talent and ability alone these guys are going to be in real trouble if we ever get you to sit down and study this stuff. I wish I had a name for who we are going to have next. It doesn’t have to be racing related at all. Do you have a question to ask our next guest on Ten Questions?

CS: What do they think of Panda Express?