(Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Pa. — Through 15 races, Zane Smith has had a near dream season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He’s won three races and finished outside of the top 10 just twice.
As the regular season concludes Saturday at Pocono Raceway, the intensity will ramp up. Smith can seal his regular season championship by earning just two points in the CRC Brakleen 150, where he’d earn an additional 15 playoff points. But after that, the real season kicks into high gear.
“I’m super excited to get the playoffs started,” Smith said in a media conference Friday. “Really happy with where we are in this regular season championship, points-wise. Super comfortable, especially coming to a place like this.
“My team and I are just gelling really good. We have since Daytona… Since then, it’s just been really smooth. Even on an off-day, we somehow manage to bring home really good points.”
After spending two seasons with GMS Racing, Smith wasted no time starting off strong with Front Row Motorsports. He won the season opener at Daytona, punching his ticket into the playoffs. A few races later, Smith won at Circuit of the Americas, becoming the only full-time driver with multiple victories. He also won at Kansas Speedway back in May.
To top things off, Smith received an opportunity to run the Cup race for RFK Racing at Gateway in June. Chris Buescher, the driver of the No. 17 car, tested positive for COVID-19 and needed a replacement driver. Smith stepped in and finished 17th.
“That was just a huge opportunity,” Smith said. “Just that one race, I feel like I’m a way better driver [from] what I learned… The Cup level is just a little bit different — a lot a bit different with just everything.
“Since then, I’ve been able to be probably more consistent.”
(Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Heading into Saturday’s race at Pocono, Smith is riding a streak of four consecutive top-three finishes. Most recently, he finished second to Parker Kligerman at Mid-Ohio after an intense battle saw Kligerman win his third career race.
This weekend, Smith hopes to break through with his fourth victory of the season to head into the playoffs on a strong foot. In two Truck starts, Smith has one top-10 finish at “The Tricky Triangle.”
“I love coming up here [and] seeing all the fans,” Smith said. “I’ve really just enjoyed Pocono ever since the get-go. This was probably my first big track I ever ran at and I love it.”
After Pocono, the Truck Series will waste no time kicking off its playoffs next weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park. But afterward, it’s stop and go as the series will race in consecutive weeks just once more.
“I love everything about the Truck Series but that,” Smith said. “That sucks racing eight weeks in a row, now we have a few weeks off in between, especially at the highest pressure part of the year.
“For us, I feel like we’re kind of on the other side of the line on that just with how much momentum we’ve had all year and I don’t see how that should change with more of a break. I feel like, more than anything, that should kind of help us to give more attention to detail.”
After IRP, the series travels to Richmond Raceway before concluding the first round of the playoffs at Kansas. But for Smith, he hopes that he’ll move through the first round with ease as the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed.
Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on FOX.
