BRISTOL, Tenn.—Zane Smith will finally realize his dream as a NASCAR Cup Series driver in 2024.
While Smith will be on loan to Spire Motorsports next season, the 24-year-old racer will join Trackhouse Racing as the company expands its lineup beyond Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez in 2025.
Considering the multiple false starts Smith has experienced to reach this moment, he could barely keep his composure as team owner Justin Marks divulged their plans for the future.
“It’s just so hard to get an opportunity at racing on Sunday, especially with a race team like Trackhouse,” Smith told Catchfence.com “I’m just excited for the opportunity and what I have ahead of me. The emotion comes from like, I don’t know if you’re able to understand it, but just the sacrifices that were made. I’ll put them up against anyone who’s made it in this sport. It’s been more than people realize. I just felt like I’ve had so many things kind of taken from me, where I just thought it was going to happen and it didn’t.
“And at times–even for this Trackhouse deal–I thought it was too good to be true. Then we signed it, and it was real. I’m just more than excited. All I’ve ever wanted more than anything is to be successful on Sunday. But first you have to have the opportunity. And I now have that.”
Two years ago, Smith believed he was on his way to being a NASCAR Cup driver—until he wasn’t. He was signed with Chip Ganassi Racing—as the back-up plan for Kurt Busch, who was moving on to 23XI Racing. Never could he had imagined that Chip Ganassi would sell his company to Marks just weeks later.
At the time, the Huntington Beach, Californian was in his second season with GMS Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series. Since his future seemed secure, there was no backup plan. He had nothing.
Smith, who won rookie honors and most popular driver the year prior, stayed the course in the No. 21 truck. He won at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4 and ended up second in the standings following a fifth-place finish at Phoenix Racing.
Trackhouse Racing was still in its infancy in 2021. Marks rented space at Richard Childress Racing to field cars for Suarez. Ross Chastain was part of the process moving forward. Marks knew nothing of Smith’s status with CGR.
“We didn’t know Zane was under any kind of contract or anything with Chip,” Marks said. “When I got the text I was like, ‘Oh…ok. We’re not in a spot right now to do anything.’ It was a moment that went on Ty’s (Norris, Trackhouse president) world-famous whiteboard and sat there for a long time. It’s that kind of thing. It’s like when Ross texted me after we announced the CGR thing, and he said ‘I want this.’
“When someone like Zane reaches out and says ‘How can I be a part of this, whatever you’re doing?’ at that stage of Trackhouse, it shows the drive that he has and the commitment that he’s got and how he’s constantly thinking about how to create opportunities for himself. It’s another element to a great story that we’re all writing together.”
Smith never gave up on his Cup dream—and he never gave up on Trackhouse Racing. When the door shut for the 2022 season, Smith joined Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 38 truck. He won the season opener at Daytona, then three additional races including the Championship 4 contest at Phoenix from the pole to wrap up the his first NASCAR truck title.
Being in the Ford pipeline afforded Smith the opportunity to sub for Chris Buescher, who was sidelined by Covid at World Wide Technology Raceway. He qualified 26th and finished a respectable 17th in his Cup debut.
“I remember getting a call from Brad (Keselowski, team co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing) and running up the stairs and telling my fiancee McCall,” Smith said. “We just couldn’t believe it.
“I remember we went to Gateway and when I first met Jack Roush, he had told me these cars were absolute handful to drive—and still are some weekends. There were just a lot of unknowns about them. Well, the first thing he said to me was, ‘Odds are my money’s on you’re not going to finish.’ And I told him, ‘I hope I prove you wrong.’ We finished 17th that day. And I was happy. I felt like we did exactly and more of what I was supposed to do. I learned so much racing around Brad that day and just kind of being around Brad in general.”
Smith’s steady performance and maturity provided him with six additional Cup starts this season with Front Row Motorsports. He finished 13th in the Daytona 500 and scored his first top 10 in NASCAR’s Cup marathon—the Coca-Cola 600.
Early in the Silly Season process, Smith’s name was mentioned for a handful of teams. He told a family friend one morning over breakfast at Bob Evans that Trackhouse was his first choice. Smith caught his friend off guard simply due to the race team being such a newcomer on the NASCAR landscape.
“I just saw the leadership and everything Justin Marks and Ty Norris and all of the people at Trackhouse are doing and I want to be a part of it. It’s crazy how the world works sometimes,” Smith said. “I just didn’t see that happening and now I have a contract with Trackhouse and it just means the world to me.”
Smith’s ascent is very similar to fellow SoCal racer Jimmie Johnson. His father is a fabricator. His mother works in an elementary school lunchroom. He isn’t a silver spoon racer who can buy a ride to compete—but neither are his soon-to-be teammates Chastain and Suarez.
When Smith first came east to North Carolina, he went to the Ganassi Racing gift shop in Concord as a fan to purchase a diecast car. On his next visit to CGR, he would sign his first Cup contract—although it never came to fruition.
Last week, Smith returned to the newly rebranded Trackhouse Racing that once housed CGR. The experience made him smile.
“The guy who was giving me a tour asked me if I’d ever been here, and he had obviously no idea,” Smith said with a chuckle. “And I told him a little bit about it. So yeah, t’s just crazy how sometimes life goes in full circle. You just really never know what you’re going to get.
“I ended up back at that building and it was just really cool to see what Justin has done with the place. His leadership is truly unbelievable—just how excited the people are to be there. That’s what I want. I’ll choose a guy with a new trophy case that’s hungrier than ever to go succeed than one with a packed full trophy case. I want to be a part of the legacy that he’s just starting than one that’s been around.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
