Zane Smith netted a competitive runner-up at Nashville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
LEBANON, Tenn. – It is completely understandable if Zane Smith has felt like a pinball for the past four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
By all means, the 24-year-old Huntington Beach, California native has been fast and competitive in his No. 38 Speedco/Fleetguard Ford F-150 fielded by Front Row Motorsports.
However, circumstances, through no fault of his own, have taken him out of contention. After finishing 22nd at Darlington, 32nd at North Wilkesboro, 23rd at Charlotte and 20th at Gateway, Smith dropped from the points lead to fourth in the regular season standings.
Regardless, the defending Truck champion has remained steadfast with his team and crew chief Chris Lawson. Such faith was rewarded in Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, qualifying in eighth position with another fast truck unloaded from the team hauler.
Smith had one of the strongest trucks in Friday night’s race at Nashville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
Truth be told, Smith was incredibly fast and competitive from jump street, taking the lead on Lap 39 from Nick Sanchez en route to a Stage 1 win. Despite losing the lead from Corey Heim on Lap 60, Smith kept himself in the hunt in Stage 2, placing fourth and netting 17 stage points and a Playoff point.
In the race’s final moments, Smith was catching Carson Hocevar by at least two tenths of a second, creating a mildly tense but exciting chase for the win. On Lap 142, a fronstretch incident involving Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger set up a three lap sprint to the finish between Hocevar and Smith.
As both drivers squared off for a Nashville Truck showdown, Nick Sanchez rocketed his way up to third as if bursting out of a cannon. Rather than focusing on catching and passing Hocevar, Smith was focused on fending off a hard charging Sanchez.
At the line, Smith held on to a runner-up result, his first podium finish since a third at Kansas in early May. More importantly, it was the biggest sigh of relief from stormy times in the Truck Series.
After a rough four race skid, Smith jumps from fourth to second in the points standings. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)
“We just simply just struggled from first to second, but we were really good from third to fourth,” Smith said. “That’s all there was to it. I was honestly kind of bummed out when the caution came out there, because I knew we struggled all day on restarts. But, we had a really fast Speedco Ford. Just wish we had the clean air there.”
Although Smith came up a spot short of strumming a guitar, he jumped from fourth to second in the regular season standings. With three races remaining until the Playoffs, Smith has the speed and momentum to challenge for the points lead and more victories before the regular season finale at Richmond Raceway.
For now, Smith counted his blessings while keeping his spirits high ahead of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Round 14 of the Truck Series season.
“It’s been a rough four to five weeks,” he said. “So to leave here with a stage win and being able to contend all night long, we should all be pretty proud.”
