Sammy Smith reacts to surprise Rockingham win after Jesse Love disqualification

Sammy Smith has spoken out after inheriting the win at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway.

Although Jesse Love crossed the line first, his Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet was disqualified after the post-race inspections, handing the win to Smith who thought he was walking away with a second-place finish.

NASCAR stated, “All mating surfaces of those parts need to be in complete contact with each other, and unfortunately, they violated that rule and were disqualified."

While speaking to the media following the news of Love's disqualification, Smith commented:

"It's tough winning them like that. It's unfortunate, I've been on the other end of the stick of where Jesse is at. But, I guess, take them how you can get them."

When asked how he found out, he added:

"There's obviously been some issues for about two hours now, so me and my crew chief stayed around. I've got nowhere else to be besides church tomorrow for Easter, and decided to hang around for a little bit. So, I'm glad I stayed."

Sammy Smith, JR Motorsprots Chevrolet

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Addressing the swing in emotions from missing out on the victory to then later having it handed to him, Smith explained:

"Honestly, I wasn't too disappointed. It was a good day overall. They ultimately had the best car today, but those guys did a good job, and I thought we did a great job putting ourselves in position to be second with the issue that they had today."

On top of claiming the race victory, Smith also heads home $100,000 richer. The mid-season Dash 4 Cash bonus programme has drivers compete for a $100,000 bonus in four designated races, and this was yet another prize to be stripped from Love.

"Yeah, it's very cool. I'm looking forward to celebrating with my guys, and we're going to keep digging and bringing this speed through the next couple of races," Smith said about bagging the bonus.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series now heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Ag-Pro 300 next week.