Twenty-three races, 20 full-time drivers and one champion.
After finishing runner-up the past two seasons, the third time proved to be the charm for Zane Smith, who scored the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title with a win at Phoenix Raceway last Friday (Nov. 4).
The win marked the end of his time playing bridesmaid to Sheldon Creed in 2020 and Ben Rhodes in 2021. Smith scored four wins, 14 top fives, 19 top 10s and led 492 laps on the season, a series high in all of those categories. He was also just one of four drivers who didn’t have a DNF this season (Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, Timmy Hill).
Interestingly enough, after spending the previous two seasons with GMS Racing, Zane Smith didn’t actually know where he would race this year until after the 2021 season had ended. By comparison, he had already signed an extension with the organization before the playoffs even began this year. Additionally, he’s expected to make a handful of Cup Series starts.
The 2022 season has featured it all: first-time winners, drama between drivers, dramatic crashes, terrifying moments and even heartfelt goodbyes. But three of those goodbyes stand out above the rest, due in large part to their significance.
Farewell Camping World
In late 2007, NASCAR announced the search for a new series sponsor had begun. Craftsman, which had sponsored the series since 1996, the second year of its existence, had opted to end its tenure as the nameplate of the Truck Series.
Enter Camping World.
The company initially signed a seven-year deal to sponsor the series, and before that deal was set to expire, it was extended. The Truck Series went by the Gander RV & Outdoors moniker, one of Camping World’s subsidiaries, for the 2019 and 2020 seasons before returning to Camping World in 2021.
All told, the company has served as title sponsor of the series for 15 years, and throughout that tenure, CEO Marcus Lemonis has been all-in. In fact, Camping World even sponsored several trucks throughout its time in the series. The checkered flag over Phoenix marked the end of an era and the longest running series sponsorship to date.
Thank you to everyone. I couldn’t be there tonight. Too much emotion. 14 years. I’ll miss you @NASCAR pic.twitter.com/MZXkE0bbOh
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) November 5, 2022
Now, the series’ sponsorship has come full circle as Craftsman will return to serve as the title sponsor beginning with the season opener at Daytona International…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…