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One of NASCAR’s rising stars is celebrating his birthday this weekend, and he'll have an opportunity to gift himself a win.

Sammy Smith will be one of the 38 drivers scheduled to race in Saturday's Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway. The next day, he turns 19.

While still a teenager and having just graduated from high school, Smith already has quite the racing resume.

The 2021 and 2022 ARCA Menards Series East champion, Smith became one of the youngest winners in series history when he collected his first Xfinity Series win earlier this year at Phoenix.

But that win was on an oval, and now Smith looks to win on a road course. Judging by past results, he could seal the deal this weekend.

Smith finished 24th in his Xfinity Series debut at Road America last July, but then went on to finish third at Watkins Glen later that summer. He also finished fourth at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year.

"I didn’t grow up racing road courses, but throughout my career I’ve been able to learn more and do some testing to try to get my craft better these last few years," Smith said in an interview with Auto Racing Digest. "I love racing road courses, so I’m excited that Xfinity goes to eight of them this year, so hopefully we can keep the top-five streak going. We’ve had a lot of top fives on the road courses so I’m excited to keep this streak going."

As Smith progresses through his first full-time season in Xfinity, he'll have the opportunity to visit many new tracks for the first time. In addition to making his first start at Portland this weekend, Smith will be racing at Sonoma for the first time in his career next Saturday.

Smith said he enjoys the challenges that new tracks bring. He also states he prepares for new tracks by racing on them on the simulator and by studying past race data.

"It’s definitely tough going to a new track where you have to unload, have 20 minutes of practice and then have to try to figure things out for qualifying," Smith said. "It’s the new circumstances that we were given so I enjoy the challenge.

"I enjoy trying to get up to speed fast and trying to figure out what I need to do to go fast as a driver and try to figure out what my car needs to be a winning car. I think just a lot of preparation is probably what I feel like helps me the most."

Currently ranked eighth in the overall point standings, Smith has already clinched a playoff berth with his win at Phoenix. He also has three top 5 finishes and five top 10s.

"It’s gone okay," Smith said of his season so far. "A lot of ups and downs. I feel like we’ve had a lot of strong runs and a lot of runs that should have gone right. We just didn’t execute in the right way.

"Definitely learned a lot these last few races. I think I’ve learned a lot. We still just need to be more consistent and obviously, I think we need to win some more races so we’ll continue to do that and hopefully get a couple more race wins. Hopefully, they’re at the road courses. I really enjoy road courses and I’ve never been to Portland before so hopefully we’ll make our first run a good one."

The Pacific Office Automation 147 takes place this Saturday at 4:30 PM ET on FS1.