Regan Smith's 'super sub' role not easy to adapt to

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Regan Smith emerged from Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 42 hauler Sunday morning wearing a Target bulls-eye hat.

It was just the latest outfit for NASCAR's super sub, who seems to be the man called on for emergency duty whenever teams need a driver.

With Kyle Larson being held out of Sunday's STP 500 after he fainted Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway – he is hospitalized in Charlotte undergoing tests – Smith will take over the No. 42 for the day.

"These situations aren't easy," Smith said. "You're hopping in somebody else's car, somebody else's setup, somebody else's team and trying to plug yourself in as best you can and do as good as you can for that team and those guys. That said, you try to make the most of it."

Smith's sub duty continues a run he began in 2012, when Hendrick Motorsports called on him to drive the No. 88 car for two races in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was out with a concussion.

The next year, he practiced and qualified the No. 48 car at Richmond International Raceway for Jimmie Johnson, who was on baby watch.

In 2014, Smith was called into emergency duty to drive Tony Stewart's No. 14 car at Watkins Glen International after the sprint car accident that killed Kevin Ward Jr.

And earlier this year, Smith drove Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 41 car in place of the suspended Kurt Busch for three races.

But emergency driver duty is always a challenge despite his experience doing it, he said.

"It's difficult," Smith said. "Any time you can get in a rhythm and have your own deal, it's obviously easier."

That said, "it's still a race car, it's still got a steering wheel, it's still got gas pedals and we do the same stuff with it," he added.

Smith, who hasn't spoken to Larson, was first alerted to the possibility of being a replacement on Saturday night. He went to the CGR shop to get fitted for a seat in case he was needed.

When he woke up at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, he checked his phone for news. Sure enough, there was a text message from a CGR official telling him he'd be needed. Smith then made the two-hour drive to Martinsville. The JR Motorsports driver is a regular on the Xfinity Series circuit, which was off this weekend.

In the meantime, the No. 42 team had to change out Larson's seat – the regular driver is 5-foot-6 – with teammate Jamie McMurray's seat, who has a more comparable build to Smith, who is 5-foot-9.

The crew then adjusted the pedals, since Larson's were too close to the seat for Smith's liking. McMurray visited the No. 42 hauler to help Smith review how the car was working with the tire combination this weekend – Smith hasn't raced at Martinsville since April 2013 – and crew chief Chris Heroy told Smith about what changes the team had worked on during practices Friday and Saturday.

Though Larson qualified seventh, Smith will have to start 43rd due to the driver change. That will only add to the difficulty at Martinsville, which is NASCAR's shortest track. (He finished 16th).

"It's a place where you have to start 43rd like we do, the leader is going to be right there quick," he said. "One of our struggles is going to be just trying to stay on lead lap early on."

But Smith knows he has to do the best he can, especially since the full-time Xfinity Series driver seems to be in a perpetual tryout in hopes of returning to NASCAR's top level soon.

"I'd rather be racing than watching on TV, so I'm OK with that," he said. "I think I've made it clear I'd like to get back to doing this on a permanent basis on the Cup side. If being the guy everyone calls on can help lead to that down the road, that's great."

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