Zane Smith raced his No. 38 Nascar Ford F-150 to his first-ever Truck Series championship in an Overtime finish at Phoenix Raceway on November 4th, 2022.
Smith’s No. 38 F-150 outclassed Ben Rhodes, driver of the No. 99 Toyota Tundra race truck and defending series champion, by a margin of just .236 seconds after an eventful final two laps. Smith put his No. 38 F-150 right behind Rhodes’ No. 99 Tundra on the final restart and was able to claim the lead after diving through the backstretch “dogleg” turn. He was able to keep Rhodes’ No. 99 Toyota and Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Tundra behind him all the way to the checkered flag.
Previously, Smith finished second in the Truck Series championship in 2020 and 2021. “The third time’s the charm,” Smith said, and stated that he had been crying as he wheeled his No. 38 Nascar Ford F-150 around the track for the final circuit. When asked of his mindset in the final Overtime restart, he said his only thought was, “‘I’m going to win this.’ There was no other option. I was either backing it in the fence wrecking, or I was leaving tonight with a championship trophy. There were no other options, and when I saw the 18 [Chandler Smith] get underneath me I was worried that I got him too loose underneath me.”
Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and the race stayed clean to the checkered flag. The championship-winning race at Phoenix marked Smith’s fourth win of the 2022 Truck Series season. Not only does it mark his first championship, but that of his race team, Front Row Motorsports. Smith will return to Front Row for the 2023 Truck Series season to pilot the No. 38 Nascar Ford F-150 and will also run a handful of Cup Series races, including the Daytona 500 in February.
Overall, it was a good weekend to be behind the wheel of a Blue Oval race car – Joey Logano secured the championship at the Cup Series level in the No. 22 Ford Mustang.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 38 | Zane Smith (P) | Michael Roberts Construction Ford | 154 | 77 | Ford F-150 |
2 | 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes (P) | Kubota Toyota | 154 | 8 | Toyota Tundra |
3 | 12 | 18 | Chandler Smith (P) | Safelite AutoGlass Toyota | 154 | 9 | Toyota Tundra |
4 | 10 | 4 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 154 | 44 | Toyota Tundra |
5 | 5 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar International Toyota | 154 | 6 | Toyota Tundra |
6 | 13 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
7 | 3 | 51 | Corey Heim # | Crescent Tools Toyota | 154 | 5 | Toyota Tundra |
8 | 4 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Ford Performance Ford | 154 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
9 | 15 | 30 | Kaden Honeycutt | Race Face Digital Toyota | 154 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
10 | 22 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
11 | 23 | 19 | Derek Kraus | NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
12 | 9 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Ideal Door/Menards Toyota | 154 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
13 | 2 | 62 | Layne Riggs | RamJack Foundation Repair Toyota | 154 | 5 | Toyota Tundra |
14 | 24 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | LiUNA! Toyota | 154 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
15 | 20 | 91 | Colby Howard | Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
16 | 17 | 35 | Jake Garcia | Quanta Services Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
17 | 21 | 17 | Taylor Gray | Ford Performance Ford | 154 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
18 | 32 | 45 | Lawless Alan # | AUTOChargit Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
19 | 19 | 61 | Chase Purdy | Ibaraki Toyopet Toyota | 154 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
20 | 8 | 66 | Ty Majeski (P) | Road Ranger Toyota | 154 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
21 | 26 | 40 | Dean Thompson # | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 154 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
22 | 11 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley Roofing Chevrolet | 153 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
23 | 31 | 5 | Tyler Hill | Garry Mercer Trucking Inc. Toyota | 152 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
24 | 30 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet | 152 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
25 | 25 | 9 | Blaine Perkins # | RACELINE Chevrolet | 152 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
26 | 28 | 43 | Chris Hacker | Morgan & Morgan Toyota | 152 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
27 | 29 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Coble Enterprises Toyota | 152 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
28 | 27 | 2 | Johnny Sauter | RANDCO Industries Chevrolet | 152 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
29 | 16 | 24 | Jack Wood # | Quick Quack Car Wash Chevrolet | 151 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
30 | 7 | 98 | Christian Eckes | CMR Construction & Roofing Toyota | 151 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
31 | 14 | 1 | Hailie Deegan | Wastequip Ford | 133 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
32 | 18 | 7 | Rajah Caruth | Circle Chevrolet | 106 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
33 | 33 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Off The Grid Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
34 | 34 | 33 | Keith McGee | Murphys Towing and Diesel Chevrolet | 15 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
35 | 35 | 20 | Armani Williams | Visit Mesa Chevrolet | 6 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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pretty good for the LS powered ford decal