Smith began racing at the age of 8 in go-karts, and then began racing legends cars and late models. His dad inspired him to start racing.[1]
Smith made his debut in the CARS Tour in May 2019, driving the No. 12 Toyota for Barry Nelson. He was 14 years old at the time. He would run five more races for Nelson that year and another in 2020, before running two races in the No. 19 for Marcus Richmond. Smith returned to Nelson's team in 2021 to compete in the race at Orange County Speedway. Smith competed full-time in the CARS Series in the Super Late Model Tour in 2020, driving the No. 51 (or on occasion, the No. 51S) for Kyle Busch Motorsports. That year, he also competed in the World Series of Asphalt.[1]
In 2021, KBM decided to temporarily close down their late model team,[2] so Smith moved to Wilson Motorsports for his late model starts that year.[3] He again entered the World Series of Asphalt and won the race driving the team's No. 22 car.[4]
On February 3, 2021, it was announced that Smith would compete in the first five races of the ARCA Menards Series East season as well as the West Series season-finale at Phoenix, all in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 car.[5] In his debut at New Smyrna, Smith would lose the race to Max Gutiérrez in a three-wide photo finish with him and Taylor Gray.[6] Smith would then go on to win and lead the most laps in the next two races at Five Flags and the Nashville Fairgrounds. He also won the pole at Five Flags. At Dover, JGR entered Ty Gibbs (their full-time driver in the main ARCA Menards Series) in the No. 18 and moved Smith to a new second car for the team, the No. 81. (It was originally the No. 18E on the entry list,[7] but since this race was not a combination race, numbers with letters were not allowed and the team had to change the number.) Gibbs would win that race and Smith would finish fourth. At Southern National Motorsports Park, Smith would pick up his third win of the season. While the remaining three East Series races were not on his initial schedule, Smith is expected to return to the No. 81 in those three races (at least Iowa)[8] to hold onto the points lead and win the championship. Those three races are combination races with the main ARCA Menards Series, so Gibbs will be in the No. 18.
Smith returned to the East Series in 2022, this time driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He started the season with a high note, winning the season opener race at New Smyrna, after starting from the pole and leading 167 laps.[9] He scored another win the in following race at Five Flags, leading 107 laps.[10] His third win of the season came at Nashville, as he once again led the most laps, with 156.[11] Smith would also run the main ARCA Menards Series schedule full-time, but because he will not turn 18 until June 4, 2022, he would skip four races at the larger tracks, Daytona, Talladega, Kansas, and Charlotte.[12] He earned his first main ARCA win at Berlin, leading the final 8 laps after race leader, Daniel Dye, suffered a mechanical problem.[13] He would get a second win in the following week at Elko, dominating the race and leading 233 laps.[14]
During the 2023 season, Smith scored his first win at Phoenix; at age 18, he became the youngest Xfinity Series winner at Phoenix, and the fourth youngest winner in series history.[16]
On September 26, 2023, it was announced that Smith will leave JGR after the 2023 season and move to JR Motorsports in the No. 8 car for 2024.[17] Smith started the season with a 23rd place finish at Daytona. He made the playoffs as the 12 seed with 0 wins, 4 top 5s and 13 top 10s. During the playoffs, Smith scored his 2nd career Xfinity win (first win of the 2024 season) at Talladega.[18]
Craftsman Truck Series
On February 3, 2023, it was announced that Smith would make his Truck Series debut in the 2023 season-opener at Daytona, filling in for Taylor Gray in the Tricon Garage (previously David Gilliland Racing) No. 17 truck due to Gray still being 17 years old and therefore not able to race there.[19]
