Max Gutierrez, driver of the #30 Tough Built Ford, owls ahead in the final stretch to win the Jeep Beach 175 for the ARCA Menards Series East at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida on February 8, 2021. Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR
Taylor Gray, Sammy Smith and Max Gutierrez race to the finish in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East season-opener at Florida's New Smyrna Speedway (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

NOTEBOOK: Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray eye redemption in 2022 East Series opener at New Smyrna

www.arcaracing.com February 14, 2022

The scene was Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway during the track’s annual World Series of Stock Car Racing. The drivers were Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray and Max Gutiérrez.

One year later, the setting has not changed. Nor have the subjects, as Smith, Gray and Gutiérrez all are entered in Tuesday night’s Race to Stop Suicide 200 presented by Place of Hope, the 2022 ARCA Menards Series East season-opener at the half-mile paved oval.

The question is whether either Smith or Gray can redeem himself after Gutiérrez stole the victory from both in dramatic fashion last year at New Smyrna.

RELATED: Watch the East Series season-opener on FloRacing

The finish of the year on the ARCA Menards platform in 2021 played out in the first race. Entering the final corner on the last lap, Smith stuck the nose of his No. 18 Toyota underneath the leader Gray’s No. 17 Ford, nudging both up the track. That allowed Gutiérrez to stick his No. 30 Ford on the bottom to create a three-wide drag race down the final stretch.

Gutiérrez won that sprint by a nose.

“I saw an opportunity, and I took it,” Gutiérrez said in Victory Lane.

Added Gray: “Just a last lap deal. (Smith) tried to move me and didn’t do it right.”

As anybody would be, Gray was visibly frustrated after finishing third after entering Turn 3 of the final lap with the lead. After a year of waiting, Tuesday brings his chance at redemption at New Smyrna.

Gray, 16, ended up earning five top-five finishes in five East Series races last season, including that third-place run in the opener. He also picked up a pair of wins in the West Series.

Gray will run Tuesday night’s season-opener in the same equipment he ran last year, the No. 17 Place of Hope Ford for David Gilliland Racing. Likewise, the 19-year-old Gutiérrez is back in familiar equipment with his No. 30 TOUGHBUILT Ford for Rette Jones Racing.

Smith, the 17-year-old defending East Series champion, is back in the No. 18 Toyota, but now for Kyle Busch Motorsports with TMC Transportation on board as his partner.

All three figure to be contenders for the win in Tuesday night’s 200-lap event. Anything close to the finish they produced last year will be a can’t-miss show.

Double dipping in Daytona

Five drivers entered in Tuesday night’s East Series opener at New Smyrna are also entered in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series opener 12 miles up the road at Daytona International Speedway.

Those drivers are Gutiérrez, Willie Mullins, Brad Smith, Mason Diaz and Christian Rose.

The Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona will mark Gutiérrez’s sixth ARCA Menards Series start after notching four last year and one in 2020. It’s only his second standalone AMS start (Charlotte last year), as the others were combination races with the East Series.

Willie Mullins, driver of the #3 Mullins RacingChevy, drives during ARCA Testing at Daytona International Speedway on January 14, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/NASCAR)
Willie Mullins in action during the ARCA Menards Series pre-race practice at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 14, 2022. (James Gilbert/NASCAR)

Mullins, of course, is no stranger to the New Smyrna-Daytona double having run both races in each of the last two years driving his own Mullins Racing equipment.

“This is definitely one of the most important race weeks we’ve ever had,” said Mullins, who will race his No. 11 Crow Wing Recycling Ford on Tuesday at New Smyrna before piloting his No. 3 Crow Wing Recycling/CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet on Saturday at Daytona. Mullins Racing also will field the No. 03 Ford for rookie Brayton Laster at Daytona, the first time the team will field two cars for the race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“Anything less than a win for my car is a disappointment at Daytona,” Mullins added. “We’ve shown we can run up front when it matters most. We have great equipment, a fast race car and a determined team. We just need to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.”

Smith is an ARCA racing veteran with 385 AMS starts to his name dating back to 1988, including 11 at Daytona. But Tuesday will mark his first start in an ARCA Menards event at New Smyrna. He’ll drive his own No. Copraya Websites Chevrolet in both races.

Diaz will race the No. 44 Solid Rock Carriers-Prince William Marina Ford for John Ferrier at both New Smyrna and Daytona. Rose will be in different cars — the No. 42 Visit West Virginia Toyota for Bruce Cook at New Smyrna and a Chevrolet at Daytona.

World Series of Asphalt carries on

As has been the case since 2014, when the East Series held its first race at New Smyrna, the season-opener in 2022 is being held as part of the track’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.

Tuesday night’s Race to Stop Suicide 200 presented by Place of Hope falls on Night five of the nine-day racing extravaganza at the high-banked short track.

The action began Friday, Feb. 11 and continued Saturday night with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s first visit to New Smyrna. Matt Hirschman won the Mods season-opener.

After Tuesday’s East Series race at New Smyrna, the World Series of Asphalt action will continue through Saturday, Feb. 20. The complete schedule can be found here.

A general view during night 1 of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing event at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida on February 11, 2022. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Notes:

  • Five drivers entered in the East Series opener at New Smyrna — Ashton Higgins, Leland Honeyman, Donald Theetge, Steve Austin and Daniel Escoto — will make their debuts on the ARCA Menards platform. Higgins will run his own No. 49 ALH Motorsports Toyota. Honeyman recently joined Young’s Motorsports to pilot the No. 02 Chevrolet. Theetge is scheduled to run at least two East Series races for Visconti Motorsports this year. Austin is in the No. 22 Chevrolet for CCM Racing. Escoto will run the No. 60 Chevrolet for JW Motorsports.
  • Stephanie Moyer, who finished 10th in East Series points last season on the strength of a pair of top-10 finishes in six starts, will race at New Smyrna in Andy Hillenburg’s No. 01 Toyota. Hillenburg will also field cars for Mullins, Ed Pompa and Tony Cosentino.
  • Zachary Tinkle, who competed in eight ARCA Menards Series races last season, will run at New Smyrna in Wayne Peterson’s No. 0 GreatRailing.com Chevrolet.