DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: With the opportunity to qualify for the Daytona 500, Zane Smith has a myriad of challenges going into the biggest race of his life.
After winning the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway last fall, the newly crowned champion returns to the “World Center of Racing” with double duty on his plane and some stress along the way.
Before turning his attention towards defending his Truck Series title, Smith will pilot a third Front Row Motorsports entry and look to make his Daytona 500 debut.
However, the opportunity to compete in the biggest race of his life does not come without some hurdles.
With the No. 36 Ford Mustang being an open-chartered team, Smith will have to rely on either his qualifying speed from Wednesday’s night session or his placement in his Cup Series Duel at Daytona to vie for one of the 40 starting positions available for the “Great American Race.”
Smith arrives for the biggest lap of his life without the benefit of practice and will have to rely on his knowledge and talent from both his Truck Series experience and his Cup fill-in for Chris Buescher with RFK last year to not only get reacquainted with the NextGen car but put down a monstrous qualifying lap in the process.
“Crazy… especially when it’s your first lap is qualifying, and that one is going to go by pretty quickly.,” Smith said Wednesday during Daytona 500 Media Day. “Pretty much your second lap is going to be in the Duels. Hopefully we qualify on time, but who knows?
“Looking back at that super last-minute Cup start for RFK Racing filling in for Chris Buescher, I am so thankful for it.
“Especially once I heard about the first lap being qualifying. I’ve at least driven the thing. I don’t remember a ton of it, but I do remember it.
“I’ve done a lot of studying on what I need to do and preparing the best I can for qualifying – for my short time in it – and some preparing for the Duels on what to expect. We’ll do the best we can in it.”
Studying and preparation by the Huntington Beach, Calif. native is only part of the challenges the Smith will endure over the next couple of days. The Daytona 500 is the first race of a part–time schedule for him this season – splitting the No. 38 Ford Mustang with friend Todd Gilliland.
Getting everything together to try to run the Daytona 500 in a series where everything and everyone was already in the planning stages made it somewhat difficult, but the team found a way to make it all work out.
“It’s really hard for these open teams just trying to get the personnel,” Smith added. “All the good people are taken. That’s something so crazy to realize and hear about, but when you’re racing truck and Xfinity, those guys are off so they can help out on the Cup side.
“They have their normal job. It’s tough to find people to go out and do the best work possible, but the work ethic Front Row Motorsports provides is just outstanding. “
Knowing all of this, the 23-year-old driver seems to have a positive outlook on qualifying into the Daytona 500.
“The pressure for me is just wanting to one, get into the 500, but also to prove to Ambetter Health and Wellcare that this is something we can do.
“Obviously, it’s a risk every sponsor takes on an open car trying to get in. The Daytona 500 just brings so much media and so much attention. It’s almost like we end the year with the most attention, and we start it up with the most attention. It’s kind of like the championship for media day all over again, and the pressure is back.”
Thinking about that opportunity he knows that it will probably be the biggest day of his life since winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
“I feel like I’ve lived about five different lifetimes in my three years of truck that I’ve had with the amount of ups and downs there’s been,” he reflected.
“It’s crazy that I’m sitting here now, thinking back to, ‘Man, we’ve won a championship for one, but now we’re going to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500.’ I never thought that day would be here.”
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter @grace3140 or email [email protected]
CATCHFENCE.com staff writer Chris Knight contributed to this feature.
