When Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s J.R. Motorsports rolls into Iowa Speedway on August 8, Sammy Smith will be driving a special tribute to Michael Annett. But once you know the story behind it, it becomes clear that it’s about much more than just a weekend promotion.
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The race is the first O’Reilly Auto Parts event at Iowa since Annett, a former Cup Series driver for J.R Motorsports, passed away in December 2025 at the age of 39. For Smith, who grew up in Iowa and was close to the Annett family, it is a chance to honour someone who helped pave the path that brought him to NASCAR.
“Michael meant so much to me personally,” Smith said as per a J.R. Motorsports video posted on X. “He probably was one of the biggest reasons I started racing.”
Smith’s father, Kurt, worked as Annett’s business manager. Annett’s father, Harold, meanwhile, was one of the people who helped put Sammy in a go-kart as a child. Their families spent years around the same race tracks, and Smith has often spoken about how closely they are connected.
The tribute has a piece of Michael with it. The car will recreate Michael Annett’s 2017 Pilot Flying J scheme, and Smith said the detail that matters most is the shamrock.
“The shamrock was kind of Michael’s thing,” he said. “He always ran it on the back of his helmets.”
Also, Smith’s not treating it as a one-time tribute either. “I plan on carrying it with me the rest of my career,” he said. “Hopefully just make him proud.”
That is also why the tribute is happening at Iowa instead of Darlington, where NASCAR usually celebrates throwback weekend. Smith wanted it to happen in front of the crowd that knew Annett best.
Michael Annett raced for the Dale Jr. led team from 2017 through 2021 and drove the No. 1 Chevrolet during the most successful stretch of his career. He won the 2019 Daytona season opener, made multiple Xfinity Series playoffs, and became one of the best veterans in the garage.
His importance to JR Motorsports was not limited to getting good results. The sponsorship support he brought from Pilot Flying J and TMC Transportation helped the team grow into the four-car operation it is today. Teammates often described him as the kind of driver who looked after his crew and cared about the people around him as much as the racing itself. Smith knows that history better than most.
“It would mean nothing more for me, my family, and everyone on this 18 to be able to park in Victory Lane and make Michael proud,” he said in the same video.
For Dale Jr.’s JR Motorsports, this is a tribute to a driver who helped build the team. For Sammy Smith, it is simpler than that. It is a way to say thank you to the man who was there long before the wins, the sponsorships, and the national spotlight ever came onto the track.