California fires: NASCAR driver Garrett Smithley’s father helping fight L.A. wildfires with private aircraft

Over the past few months, numerous outreach and goodwill efforts across professional sports have been dedicated to helping those affected by natural disasters, whether it be the western North Carolina area devastated by Hurricane Helen or the greater Los Angeles area devastated by wildfires over the past few months. Weeks. However, what separates NASCAR from other sports is the very direct way in which people in and around auto racing have offered a helping hand.

In the immediate aftermath of Helen’s accident, former NASCAR star and Hall of Fame nominee Greg Biffle earned critical acclaim for providing aid and relief throughout Western North Carolina via his private helicopter. Now, RK Smithley – father of Xfinity Series driver Garrett Smithley – is flying missions to help fight wildfires in Los Angeles.

A recent story by The Athletic Smithley profiled the elder Smithley, who worked for a private aerial firefighting company and was flying more than six missions a day dropping fire retardants from a DC-10 across Los Angeles. For his son, this type of work is nothing new, but the circumstances have brought a new and unique level of publicity to the family business.

Speaking to CBS Sports on Wednesday, Smithley said his father returned home Monday after 10 days of flying through Los Angeles, garnering the most publicity ever in his 11 years flying a private firefighting plane. The Smithley family has gained significant recognition across the NASCAR industry, with some pointing out that Garrett is somehow not “The biggest badass in the family“Even though he’s a Nascar driver – which is something I don’t disagree with.

“It just shows the like-mindedness in the NASCAR community, the fact that we’re all stuck together. And it was great to see him get recognition,” Smithley told CBS Sports. “I tell people all the time that he has a much better job than I do, and of course a much more important job. And he’s really doing a lot of good out there. For him and all the other pilots out there, I know it’s worth it.” It’s nice to see all the support and all the communication, and it’s been great to see the NASCAR community rally around me.

“I did a preseason production day (Tuesday), and it was great to see how many people really cared when you attended an event like this. Almost everyone at every stop I went to was like, ‘Hey, how’s your dad?’ And this and that, and it’s really cool to see.”

Although Smithley chose a racing career and has spent the past decade gaining a foothold in NASCAR’s top three divisions – he has raced in 76 Cup Series and made 180 Xfinity starts with one top-five, five top-10s, and a career-best finish of fifth at Daytona in 2018 – Firefighting ran in the family. RK Smithley is a third-generation firefighter, first serving as a volunteer firefighter in Ligonier, Pennsylvania before becoming a pilot. The family also has a significant military background that will help Garrett in his racing career this season.

Smithley has partnered with Hire Heroes USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans and military spouses succeed in civilian careers, which will be featured on Smithley’s car for multiple races this season starting with the Xfinity Series opener at Daytona. Smithley’s military ties extend from his grandfathers, who served in the Marines and Army respectively, all the way back to the time when his father flew military charter flights and he himself worked with military charities as a Boy Scout.

“For me, we’ve always supported the military, but the thing we’re missing is the transition from the military,” Smithley said. “Eventually, these service members transition into the private sector, and I think that was a big gap, something that doesn’t get talked about enough. I felt like Hire Heroes USA was a great opportunity to build this program. We’re going to have a five-race program With them, we’ll have job seekers come to the track and help with the transition, and I’m very excited about where this can go.

“It’s been well documented that ex-military people are great employees and have really good values ​​and a really good work ethic. So it’s an opportunity for these companies (partnering with Hire Heroes USA) to check a lot of different boxes and promote a good cause.”

The 2025 Xfinity Series represents an exciting opportunity for Smithley. After spending the past few years accumulating racing opportunities, including last year after his team closed mid-season, he was hired as the full-time driver of the No. 14 Ford for SS GreenLight Racing and longtime car owner Bobby Dotter. He will also compete for Garage 66 in the Cup Series season-opening Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, and says he hopes to run five to seven Cup races in the No. 66 owned by Carl Long.

While Smithley says his team is tempering its expectations as an independent organization in Xfinity’s deep field — it has set a goal of finishing in the top 20 in driver points and finishing in the top 25 in owner points — familiarity with it provides both Dotter and crew chief Jason Miller, as well as The long-awaited stability between driver and team, a reason for optimism that he can be as competitive as possible.

“The most positive thing besides the full-time deal is the fact that we worked together,” Smithley said. “I’ve raced for Bobby before, I’ve worked with Jason Miller before, and we’ve always gone well. So I think there’s definitely a lot of optimism and hopefully we can achieve all our goals and finish these races and honestly, I’d like to be here for years to come.”

“I think it’s a great organization and place to build and I’m proud to bring sponsors to it.”