Zane Smith hopes to tally consistent, strong frontrunning finishes. (Photo: Bobby Krug | The Podium Finish)
MADISON, Ill. – All things considered, Zane Smith is in a pretty great spot heading into Round 12 of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
For starters, Smith has taken to the 1.25-mile, egg shaped World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in competitive form. Save for a rear gear failure in 2021 that relegated him to a 35th place result, Smith has finished ninth or better in his three of his four prior starts.
Likewise, the reigning Truck Series champion is off to a similar start to his campaign in 2022 with victories at Daytona and Circuit of the Americas. Additionally, he enters the 200-miler at Gateway ranked third in the championship standings, a respectable spot with five regular season races remaining.
Prior to qualifying sixth for Saturday afternoon’s Truck race, Smith reflected on the unique speedway outside of St. Louis.
Smith starts sixth in Saturday’s Truck race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. (Photo: Bobby Krug | The Podium Finish)
“Gateway is a really fun place just to make laps at, so it’s a fun racetrack,” Smith said. “On the harder side of things to race at just passing-wise and what-not. I think being able to put a good lap down at Gateway really comes in clutch in the race, especially on the truck side just because of how you don’t have a whole lot of time on the truck side.”
Despite the single practice session on Friday afternoon, Smith posted the seventh fastest effort in his No. 38 ‘ARRMA’ RC Ford F-150. Now, he hopes to become the first driver to win from the sixth starting position at Gateway.
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway likely holds a special place in Smith’s heart considering it was the site of his NASCAR Cup Series debut last year. While he was tasked with his maiden start as an emergency driver in place of Chris Buescher, he logged valuable laps and tallied a 17th place finish.
Although the No. 17 car was a baptism by fire experience for Smith, he learned a great deal that he has applied in his subsequent Cup starts.
“On the Cup side, you have plenty of time to learn and it was a good place, I thought, to make your debut,” he said. “I feel like I got to experience the Cup cars in between a short track and a mile-and-a-half in a way, and I was shifting at both ends, so kind of got used to some of the shifting even though on the truck side we’re going from fourth to third, most of the guys are in one and two.”
By all means, Smith recalls last year’s double duty efforts at Gateway. (Photo: Bobby Krug | The Podium Finish)
Given the drastically short turnaround time to prepare for his Cup start with RFK Racing, he felt he passed such a unique test. However, he hopes his love for Gateway is reciprocated with his primary focus in the Truck Series.
“The Cup car is just so much different than anything I think anyone has ever really raced,” he said. “So that was a fun weekend looking back to last year when I did get to make that debut on such short notice.
“I was happy with our run there. I think we finished 17th, but learned so much throughout that day. And then on the truck side, I feel like Gateway has always been one of my best tracks, but I have really struggled to just put together a clean race and finish one off ever since my debut there on the truck side.”
Clean races are on Smith’s mind considering his finishes of 22nd or worse in the past three races. Dropping from first to third in the points standings during his recent skid, there is a bit of a paradigm shift in terms of his approach on race day.“My full focus was trophies are the only thing that matters and unfortunately that’s kind of cost me some points and some wrecked trucks,” Smith said. “It’s probably time to tone it back some and focus on points and just get some good runs in general.”
Much like the late T. Wayne Robertson told Jimmy Spencer prior to the former’s untimely passing in 1998, “Sometimes, you have to go a little slower to go a little faster.” This sage advice paid dividends for the man dubbed “Mr. Excitement” as he finished 14th in the championship standings in 1998.
Smith hopes his last race as a 23-year-old is as epic as his championship celebration in Avondale, Arizona last November. (Photo: Bobby Krug | The Podium Finish)
If defense wins championships in most sports, a smart, smooth, frontrunning approach versus sheer, trophy hunting mindset may be the ticket for Smith to contend for the win and Triple Truck Challenge bonus.
“Hopefully, just have a clean Saturday and see if we could have some good track position there at the end and go for a win and I’m pretty sure it’s a Triple Truck Challenge race, so some extra cash as well,” he said.
