Zane Smith Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Finally.  Breaking a 59-race drought in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney gave team owner Roger Penske his first same-year sweep of IndyCar’s biggest race and NASCAR’s longest. With a dominant No. 12 Team Penske Ford that gained long-run speed as the race progressed, Blaney led a race-high 163 of 400 laps and held off polesitter William Byron for his first victory on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval and the eighth of his career. A day after JosefRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Grant Enfinger stayed ahead of trouble in a race that produced seven cautions for 40 of 134 laps and forged a decisive victory in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. Enfinger crossed the finish line 4.358 seconds ahead of Corey Heim to post his first victory of the season. Enfinger’s eighth career win was his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in the 17th race of 2022. “ItRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Corey Heim prevailed at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by the highly-motivated veteran Kyle Busch. The 20-year old Georgia-native, Heim, led his first laps of the 2023 season at exactly the right time – holding the point for an impressive 82 of the 124 laps of the Long John Silver’s 200.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AUSTIN, Texas – Zane Smith became the first repeat NASCAR winner at the famed Circuit of The Americas road course, the reigning series champion holding off veteran Kyle Busch to claim his second straight victory in Saturday’s XPEL 225 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. The 23-year-old Californian’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford led the final 15 laps – a race best 16 of the 42 laps in all – and crossed the finish line an impressive 5.451-seconds ahead of the two-time NASCAR CupRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch revels in changing circumstances.  Five days after winning at Auto Club Speedway in his second NASCAR Cup Series race in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Busch powered his own Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevy to victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.  Despite a couple of twitchy moments in traffic, Busch dominated Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading 84 of 134 laps and beating runner-up Zane Smith to the finish line by 4.981 seconds. Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — On the fifth try, rain finally got the better of Daytona International Speedway—and that was perfectly all right with reigning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Zane Smith. NASCAR called Friday night’s NextEra Energy 250 after 79 of a scheduled 100 laps, making Smith the winner when the fifth rain shower of the evening thwarted track-drying efforts.  In front of the largest crowd for a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Daytona since 2011, Smith won the season opener for theRead More

By Matt Weaver, Special Contributor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Willy Auchmoody says The Money Team is going to subject themselves to liver damage on Thursday night after making the Daytona 500 in the most unlikely of circumstances.   Conventional wisdom says Auchmoody, the general manager, and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. should actually be pulling an all-nighter of a different kind and doing whatever it takes to get the ride height issues addressed on the No. 50 and for driver Conor Daly. Pace laps for the second qualifying race began withRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two wildly different paths, same result. After a combined 300 miles of racing in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night, the 40-car field for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 is now complete, with defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith and Conor Daly punching their ticket for Sunday. Racing in the first Duel race, Smith was able to breathe a sigh of relief early on after finishing eighth in his race, ahead of seven-time CupRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It all comes down to this. Just two spots remain up for grabs in the starting lineup for Sunday’s 65th running of the Daytona 500, with four drivers looking to punch their ticket into the Great American Race on Thursday night in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. Six drivers came into the week needing to either post a quick time in single-car qualifying or race their way in through the Duels, but last night seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie JohnsonRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It’s that time of the year again. Two weeks after the season kicked off with the Busch Clash exhibition race at the L.A. Coliseum, the 2023 campaign shifts into high gear with Sunday’s 65th running of the Daytona 500. The Great American Race has seen many attempt to conquer it, but only a select few have been able to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy in victory lane at the end of the day. Some go their entire careers without being able to accomplish that feat.Read More