Southern 500 winner Regan Smith told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Friday that he’s looking for a ride for the upcoming NASCAR season and didn’t rule out running in any of the top three national series.
Smith, who co-hosted “The Morning Drive,’’ was left without a ride after Tommy Baldwin Racing sold its charter after last season and reduced its involvement in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The organization has stated it would seek to make the Daytona 500 with Elliott Sadler but has not announced any other Cup plans.
Asked what he will be doing this season, Smith told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “Working on stuff. I wish I had a better answer for you. It’s down to crunch time. We’ll see what happens. There have been some opportunities here and there.
“I’ll just be brutally honest, when it comes to and pertains to the Cup series, you want to be competitive when you’re out there. This year I’m willing to wait until I can get myself in a situation to where I’m competitive and I can actually go out and do what I feel like I’m capable of.
“With that said, you have a little different mindset during the offseason when that is your thought process. We’re working through some stuff. That’s not to say that I won’t do some Xfinity and Truck races here and there in the meantime.
“I like racing at Daytona, so I’d like to be down there in something. We’ll see how that all plays out. I’m not done racing. I love racing. I love driving cars. I enjoy different kind of things. I’d like to be a part of the sport. Whether that is behind the wheel or different avenues or different things, we’ll see how it goes.’’
The 33-year-old Smith has 211 career Cup starts and won the 2011 Southern 500. He had two top-10 finishes last year for Tommy Baldwin Racing, placing third at Pocono in the fog-shortened race and finishing eighth in the Daytona 500.
Smith has six wins in 205 career Xfinity starts. He finished in the top four in points in that series from 2013-15, scoring five wins during that time with JR Motorsports. Smith also has 23 Camping World Truck Series starts but last drove in that series in 2008.