Zane Smith Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Enter the Great Disrupter. Ross Chastain’s No 1. Trackhouse Chevrolet came to life in the second half of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and beat William Byron’s Chevrolet to the finish line in a hotly contested Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Chastain grabbed the lead from Martin Truex Jr. moments after the final restart on Lap 248 at Kansas Speedway and held off a charging Byron by 0.388 seconds to thwart the Playoff driver’s bid forRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – In a largely chaotic race – action-packed literally from the drop of the green flag, it was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher who prevailed in overtime in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen – passing road course ace, Shane Van Gisbergen in a bumper-to-bumper last lap duel to claim his career first road course victory at the famed Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Van Gisbergen took the lead from the second row in a daring three-wide move on an overtimeRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Shane Van Gisbergen has gotten the call. He’s moving to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time with Trackhouse Racing in 2025. The move completes the journey for the 35-year-old New Zealander, who burst onto the NASCAR scene with his win at Chicago in his first-ever start in 2023 before moving into the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis in 2024 and now going full-time at NASCAR’s top division next season. With Trackhouse obtaining a third charter for its efforts to field a carRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Certainly, the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway was not lacking in action or drama. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick claimed his second victory of the season – seventh of his career – while the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings shifted dramatically yet again in Monday’s weather-delayed double-overtime finish to the race. Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota pulled away from William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the second overtime restart – holding off Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs to claimRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs earned his second career NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Position Saturday claiming the top starting spot for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 21-year old Gibbs will line up first in the No. 54 JGR Toyota, equaling his best previous series qualifying effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway this May. His lap of 170.039 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono oval was .118-seconds faster than WilliamRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Winner. Finally. After a season in which he had yet to win a race to punch his ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Joey Logano will no longer have to answer the question of when he would win after surviving a five-overtime finish and a fuel tank running dry to win Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville. Ascending to the lead on the fourth overtime when the leaders ahead of him started running out of fuel, Logano was in just as much dangerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Corey Heim took control of Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 in the final stage and charged to his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season, despite fighting a loose handling condition in the closing stages. Heim took the lead from Nick Sanchez on Lap 70 of 134 at Kansas Speedway and stayed out front the rest of the way, gaining time thorough a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the middle of the final stage. Runner-up ZaneRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service A handful of late race cautions only made it more dramatic but veteran Kyle Busch still managed to hold off a hard-charging field to claim a record-tying sixth NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race victory at Texas Motor Speedway, just bettering Corey Heim by a mere .112-second to win Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250. Maybe while competing in Texas Busch should consider changing his nickname from “Rowdy” to the popular Texas greeting, “Howdy” because the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has absolutely created an unbelievable markRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Rajah Caruth made a promise after taking the checkered flag in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  “There’s more to come, for sure,” said the 21-year-old Spire Motorsports driver moments after securing his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win from the pole position in Friday night’s race.  An alumnus of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, Caruth is the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race, joining Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace. Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Zane Smith will have three weeks to ponder his current position in the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff standings after early trouble in Saturday’s Love’s RV Stop 250 at Talladega leaves him in danger of elimination with one race remaining to decide the Championship 4. Entering the day some 14 points behind the cut-off line, the defending Truck Series champion needed to steer clear of trouble to be able to keep himself and his team within striking distance of the top-four, but it wasRead More