Zane Smith (71) racing for position during the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
LEBANON, Tenn. — Heading into the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, if you were to tell someone that rookie driver Zane Smith would finish second and almost win, they surely would have called your bluff.
But that is exactly what happened.
With the leaders seconds away from taking the white flag to make the race official, Austin Cindric spun on the back straightaway, sending the race to overtime, which would be the first of five attempts to finish the race.
After a wreck on the third attempt when Kyle Busch got spun out after being stuck behind Kyle Larson who ran out of gas on the restart, it forced the two leaders, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr to pit, opening the door for some new faces in the first two rows.
One of which was Smith, who restarted in fourth and topped off on fuel on Lap 245 to try and make it to the end of the race.
Zane Smith (71) crossing the start/finish line ahead of Tyler Reddick (45) and behind race winner Joey Logano (22). (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
After another caution, NASCAR set up the fifth and final overtime restart of the race and Joey Logano pulled out to a lead. Smith was passed by a hard-charging Tyler Reddick on fresh tires for third, but was able to get by Chase Briscoe to regain the spot.
Going into Turns 3 and 4, Reddick went high to go for the lead but Logano blocked, allowing Smith to get a run on the bottom. However, Smith was not able to catch the No. 22 car, finishing in second place by 0.068 seconds.
“Pissed,” Smith said on what one word describes his current emotion. “I mean, obviously so happy with the result. But when you hear for like 10 laps that ‘he is supposed to run out, he is supposed to run out’, and then you see him shaking the car across the line and you just finished second, that hurts,” said Smith.
The second-place result is a career-best for Smith, topping the 10th-place finish he scored in the Coca-Cola 600 last season and smashing his season-best finish on the year of 13th.
Zane Smith (71) racing Chase Briscoe (14) for position during the Ally 400. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)
“The winning side of it hurts, but just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports and appreciate the strategy there,” said Smith. “I appreciate Jockey Outdoors and Luke Bryan; having them on board here in Nashville, along with all of our other partners.”
It has been a tough first full-time season in the Cup Series for Smith, who is last of all full-time drivers in the points standings in 34th place and has an average finish of 26.7, but the second-place run can serve as a momentum builder for the second half of the season.
“It’s been a rough, rough year, but this is a great momentum booster, confidence booster, all of the above. So, hopefully, we can carry this on, but it was awesome to sniff your first Cup win,” Smith said.
