Smith in the #41 at Las Vegas

Regan Smith

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Stewart-Haas Racing has named Regan Smith interim driver of its No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend March 6-8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The race on Sunday will be Smith’s sixth Sprint Cup start at Las Vegas. His most recent Sprint Cup start at the 1.5-mile oval was on March 11, 2012 when he finished 15th.

Las Vegas will be Smith’s third race in the No. 41 car. He drove the Haas Automation Chevrolet to a 16th-place finish Feb. 22 in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a 17th-place finish last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Smith already had some history with Stewart-Haas Racing prior to Daytona. He subbed for Tony Stewart in the team’s No. 14 car last August at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Smith was the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year and won the 2011 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. He is a fulltime driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and finished second in the 2014 championship standings. Smith, 31, is from Cato, New York.

A driver for the No. 41 team at next weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway and subsequent races has not been determined.

Stewart Haas Racing