Kim Coon catches up with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith ahead of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
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00:00 The roster is strong for Joe Gibbs Racing and the NASCAR Xfinity Series and two of these drivers will be racing for a drivers championship in 2024.
00:08 Both new to JGR and new to being teammates. So let's meet these guys and find out how they're going to make their mark on Joe Gibbs Racing.
00:15 Welcome to Joe Gibbs Racing. What does it mean to you to be driving for this organization?
00:20 Honestly, I'm just really excited to be here. Obviously, JGR has been extremely good in both Xfinity and Cup, you know, not just the last couple years, but for a long time.
00:32 So excited to be here and excited to get rolling with my guys.
00:36 Chandler, you are officially a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. How does it feel?
00:40 It's great. It's kind of just, it's crazy because I was with Toyota for six plus years.
00:45 To come back being under the Toyota camp, being here at Joe Gibbs Racing, I'm extremely excited for the opportunity and can't wait to see what 2024 holds.
00:53 What was the call like from Gibbs knowing that you're in a race full time for them in 2024?
00:58 You know, I think I might have been the first call to see if they had an opening and then just worked out all the details from there.
01:05 But I did finally get a call like, hey, it's all going to work. So that was a special moment for me.
01:11 Is that kind of limbo time nerve wracking when you're trying to get the deal done?
01:17 What is it like as a driver to kind of just let your fate rest in others' hands?
01:21 I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was considering going back truck racing at one point or, you know, staying where I was at.
01:29 I didn't know where I was going to be. And I really wanted this to work.
01:33 So you're, you know, you're hoping and you're dreaming on this, but you're just waiting for that phone call.
01:39 Does this feel like a fresh start for you?
01:42 Yeah, I mean, a fresh starter or a reset, I would say for me, definitely.
01:48 And, you know, I've learned so much over the last two years and I feel like I've progressed so much from the truck.
01:53 Now I'm getting a, you know, a reset here with with new guys and new manufacturer, new team.
01:58 So just excited to try to build on that and, you know, and go in races.
02:03 That's that's my main goal is, you know, to go, you know, show everyone what I'm capable of.
02:08 When you return to Toyota, does it almost feel like a little bit of a homecoming?
02:11 Oh, no, for sure. Toyota, just all the executives, everybody at TRD and Toyota, they were my family.
02:17 They picked me up when I was 14 years old, gave me opportunities that I wouldn't have been able to have without them.
02:21 So to be able to come back and be with people that believe in me and put me in the best equipment to go win trophies under their banner,
02:27 that's who I want to go to bat for every single weekend.
02:30 How do you think you've changed as a driver and a person from when you started to in the Xfinity series to now?
02:37 It's easy to say, oh, I don't think I have, but, you know, I've become a dad now and a lot of things have changed around, you know, around the home life.
02:44 It's not just myself anymore. So, you know, I guess I just try to think about others more and just trying to, you know, set a better example.
02:54 Right now, I have someone watching me all the time.
02:57 You yourself are married and you have two young sons.
02:59 How do you balance at all being a full time dad and a full time race car driver?
03:03 Honestly, I feel like that makes my job a lot easier being a husband and having two kids because it keeps me more leveled.
03:09 I don't get caught up in this and being too competitive all the time.
03:12 Like I felt like that made me grow and mature more as an individual and as a man, being a husband and also being a father.
03:19 And that's helped me on my professional life a lot.
03:21 Cammy's due in May. You'll have a second son. How do you manage all of that on top of being a full time race car driver?
03:28 I'm having an awesome life. Some days are a lot. Some days I come home and I just want to crash on the couch.
03:35 And, you know, other days we get to spend a lot of family time together.
03:39 So, you know, it is a lot. But honestly, the best is having a great wife to make it all work.
03:45 What would your wife tell us about you? Maybe something we don't know.
03:50 That I never stop. I never stop thinking about 20 million things.
03:55 I'm in this interview right now. I've got 10 other things I'm thinking about doing right now.
03:59 So that's probably what she'd say. So you need a little bit of chaos in your life.
04:02 It sounds like. Yes, I do. I always have to be rushing. I got to be like, you know what I mean?
04:06 I've got to have a little bit of chaos for me to function right.
04:09 After talking to these guys about what to expect in 2024, we thought it would be a little fun to kick things off with your first competition as teammates.
04:17 So we've got a little Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series trivia. We're going to see who's best.
04:22 You ready? Let's do it. So you're going to write your answers on the board after each question.
04:26 OK. How many Xfinity Series driver championships does Joe Gibbs Racing have?
04:34 OK. Five, seven. Neither are correct. The answer is four.
04:39 All right. Second question. What year did Joe Gibbs start their Xfinity Series program?
04:48 Who? We have 2000 and 2005. 1998. I was close. Holy smokes. What year were you born?
05:00 2002. So how am I supposed to remember that? Maybe that explains it.
05:05 Third question. How many wins does Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series program have?
05:09 Didn't they break it? They had a significant mile. I'll give you a clue. They had a significant milestone in 2023.
05:15 What do you got? Oh, come on. 200, 201. If we're playing by Price is Right rules, you win. The answer is actually 204.
05:28 Who won the first Xfinity Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing? Oh, gosh. The very first race.
05:33 I don't want to make myself look like an idiot, so I'm going to go to the safe bet here.
05:37 Is that not available? That's no answer. Are they still full time? They are not.
05:44 That's what I was going to say. Oh, you say that now. Correct answer for Sheldon. Bobby Lovanni.
05:52 All right. Two more questions. Who has the most wins for Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series program?
05:57 Bonus. How many? Total. You are both correct on the driver. The answer is actually 90 wins for Joe Gibbs Racing.
06:06 Only 90? Final question. How many cup champions have raced a Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series car?
06:14 Has Martin driven? What do you got down there? Probably the wrong answer. Don't be looking at mine.
06:23 I don't know. We're going to guess here. Close. The answer is six.
06:29 Kyle Busch, Bobby Lovanni, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and yes, Martin Truex Jr. did drive a singular race for the Xfinity Series program.
06:39 Bonus question. How many races will each of you win in 2024?
06:44 Eleven. Seven. Love it. Nice job, Sheldon and Chandler.