CONCORD, N.C.: He did not go down without a fight.
GMS Racing’s Zane Smith found himself bettering NASCAR Cup Series regulars Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch in the late laps of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and while some monstrous moves on the race track kept him at the front of the pack, Smith was unable to swipe the lead away from two of NASCAR’s best.
Smith finished third in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series return after a more than 90-day hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but what made the finish that more impressive was Charlotte marked only the fourth ever Truck Series start for the Huntington Beach, Calif. native.
Smith did not have it easy on Tuesday night, with no practice or qualifying to set up his No. 21 LaPaz Margarita Mix Chevrolet Silverado, the 20-year-old had to rely on patience and the guidance of his crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion.
Starting 30th based on a qualifying draw, Smith had to battle a loose No. 21 LaPaz Margarita Mix Chevrolet and pitted during the competition caution at Lap 15 to combat a loose condition.
Adjustments made by Manion worked allowing his young driver to leap forward and finish third at the end of Stage 1.
Using pit strategy, Manion kept his driver out on the track, while most of the field pitted allowing the Californian to take over the lead for the start of Stage 2.
While his presence at the top spot was short-lived, Smith hovered inside the top-10 throughout Stage 2, collecting stage points and putting himself in position to contend for his first career Truck Series victory.
Smith restarted 10th in the final stage and although he pitted inside the final 50 laps of the race, Smith roared from 18th back through the field and found himself back inside the top-five eight laps later.
A Lap 96 caution sent some of the front-runners to pit road and allowed Smith to inherit the lead for 11 laps.
On Lap 108, Smith lost the lead to Johnny Sauter on the restart with Busch and Elliott in attack mode from behind. Despite being on older tires, Smith put up a good fight but lost spots to Elliott and Busch.
In the closing laps, Smith was able to pass Sauter and took third to claim his third top-10 in four career Truck Series starts.
“That was definitely fun,” said Smith after the race. “I can tell you one thing, I’m worn out, I haven’t been in a truck in 70 some days. “If you are going to lose to two guys, those are two good ones.
“Props to Chase (Elliott), he won some dough tonight. A huge thank you to LaPaz Margarita Mix, everyone whose gotten me to this point, I’ve always wanted to race in the top-level here and I’ve never thought I would be in the No. 21 truck for GMS Racing.
“They gave me an amazing truck tonight. We miss you fans. Just an awesome night.”
Smith said being aggressive on restarts allowed him to make bolds and gain a lot of track position.
“I was super aggressive on restarts and made a ton of track position doing it. I got pretty lucky restarting at the top a majority of the restarts and then when I got to the front row I was on the bottom. The bottom was the place to be if you were up front. That was my first time getting stage points, we ended up really good.
“I was so determined to get third, I was holding off Brett (Moffitt) as much as I could. He had five to 10 lap fresher tires than me I think. I got really tight with seven (laps) to go.”
Smith was also the highest finishing rookie in Tuesday night’s field.
“I was worried tonight starting 30th, that I wouldn’t be able to get to the front,” added Smith. “I was worried about not getting stage points, but I think we finished the first stage third and the second stage seventh and then ended up third overall behind Chase (Elliott) and Kyle (Busch).
“Overall awesome night and we’ll get them at Atlanta.”
The start of the 2020 Truck Series season has been strong for the four-time ARCA Menards Series winner. After finishing 11th in the season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, he battled back to finish sixth at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Smith’s first-career top-five finish jumped him four spots in the Truck Series standings heading to Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway next weekend tied with Johnny Sauter for second, 17 points
behind Austin Hill.
Man what a crazy night. I hate losing more than I love winning but to lose to them two is a good start. I can say, thank you to all the fans for the support. I felt like I won reading through these messages, hope I got my name out there tonight. P3 @CLTMotorSpdwy @NASCAR_Trucks
— Zane Smith (@zanesmith77) May 27, 2020
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
