Top Dog: Zane Smith
The good ‘ole Midwest. Sweeping plains, rural lands covering the Heartland of America, and corn fields extending for miles.
It’s also very flat, heightening the risks for tornadoes. And in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 29), Zane Smith came through like a twister.
Smith arguably put his best performance together from start to finish in his rookie campaign, finishing 10th.
The first stage was average overall, as Smith slid a few places from 15th to 20th after the first 80 laps. Beginning in the second stage, to go with the famous University of Kansas saying, it was rock, chalk, Smith.
The 25-year-old drove up into the top 10 and stayed in that area until a caution came out with about 20 laps left in the stage. After all of the lead laps car pitted, the No. 71 team opted for two tires, handing Smith the lead. Smith held strong inside the top five before pitting again following a caution with seven laps to go. That strategy saw him finish the stage in 17th, but he was able to jump the cars who had to pit during the stage break.
In the final stage, Smith continued to flirt with the top 10 and 15. A couple of late cautions tightened the field up, allowing the freshman driver to pounce and score the top 10.
A well-documented nightmare start to the season is quickly becoming distant memory, and the questions of why Smith still doesn’t have a 2025 ride confirmed are beginning to rise.
In the last seven races, Smith has recorded three top 10s and five finishes of 16th or better. He is also beginning to consistently match the results of his fellow rookie teammate, Carson Hocevar.
With a few pieces still to be placed in the puzzle of NASCAR’s Silly Season, each day that elapses without Smith having a deal is a missed opportunity for any team in the garage.
Notable Underdog Runs
The first race in the aftermath of the Corey LaJoie–Justin Haley trade is officially in the books, and it may not have gone the way some expected.
While anticipation was high for Haley’s new ride at Spire Motorsports, it was LaJoie cashing in first with a 15th-place run.
LaJoie steadily improved from his 27th-place starting spot in spite of a free-handling car for the first half of the event. He cracked the top 20 in stage two, and on the final restart with 20 laps to go, he battled into the top 15 to score his best finish at Kansas. It is also the team’s best finish at the 1.5-mile…
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