Zane Smith guided the No. 38 NASCAR Ford F-150 race truck to the front of the field at just the right time for the 2023 season-opening race at Daytona, as rain ultimately cut the event short and handed him the victory.
Misty rain wreaked havoc on the race, forcing several cautions almost immediately after the green flag dropped. The Truck Series field was only able to run 79 of the scheduled 100 laps before the sanctioning body called the event as another wave of precipitation ended track drying efforts. However, Smith certainly wasn’t upset to see the race officially called, as he had eked his way into first place when the storm really picked up.
“I tried to play that race as smart as possible,” said Smith after the race. “When it was getting really aggressive, I was getting out of it. I knew these patches of rain were a thing in our Ford meeting earlier in the day. I didn’t think it would stick around for this long. You never know what can happen. A huge, huge shoutout to all the race fans. I apologize so much that we couldn’t go back racing for you all. Hopefully, we’ll give you guys a good show tomorrow [in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race], and I’ll be out there Sunday [for the Daytona 500] – so super excited about that.”
Smith was the only NASCAR Ford F-150 to finish in the top five, as the No. 38 F-150 led a slew of Chevrolets and a few Toyotas to the rain-shortened finish. The next-best Blue Oval-badged finisher was Ty Majeski, who brought the No. F-150 home in sixth place.
The No. 13 NASCAR Ford of Hailie Deegan, meanwhile, was collected and severely damaged in a mid-race wreck, ending her first stint behind the wheel of her new machine early.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 38 | Zane Smith | Love's/Speedco Ford | 79 | 17 | Ford F-150 |
| 2 | 19 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Dead On Tools Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 3 | 4 | 19 | Christian Eckes | NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet | 79 | 19 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 4 | 21 | 9 | Colby Howard | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet | 79 | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 5 | 16 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 6 | 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | Road Ranger Ford | 79 | 2 | Ford F-150 |
| 7 | 27 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | LiUNA! Toyota | 79 | 15 | Toyota Tundra |
| 8 | 13 | 11 | Corey Heim | Safelite Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 9 | 6 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Mold-Armor/Menards Ford | 79 | 2 | Ford F-150 |
| 10 | 14 | 35 | Chase Elliott(i) | Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 11 | 26 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | Clarks Pump-N-Shop Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 12 | 9 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 13 | 25 | 41 | Travis Pastrana(i) | Worldwide Express/BRCC Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 14 | 20 | 17 | Sammy Smith(i) | Mobil 1 Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 15 | 7 | 1 | Jason A White | Celsius Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 16 | 32 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Coble Enterprises Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 17 | 10 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Bama Buggies Chevrolet | 79 | 1 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 18 | 11 | 20 | Derek Kraus | Hardscape Construction Inc Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 19 | 34 | 22 | Josh Reaume | JAG Metals Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 20 | 8 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley Roofing Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 21 | 36 | 34 | Jason M White | Powder Ventures Excavations Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 22 | 30 | 2 | Kris Wright | F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 23 | 5 | 7 | Corey LaJoie(i) | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 79 | 19 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 24 | 35 | 33 | Mason Massey | Brunt Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 25 | 33 | 30 | Chris Hacker | Morgan & Morgan P.A. Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 26 | 1 | 2 | Nick Sanchez # | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 27 | 3 | 51 | Jack Wood | Eberlestock Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 28 | 23 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Aim Autism/Halmar Toyota | 74 | 2 | Toyota Tundra |
| 29 | 17 | 24 | Rajah Caruth # | Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet | 57 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 30 | 29 | 43 | Daniel Dye # | Giuseppe's Steel City Pizza Chevrolet | 57 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 31 | 22 | 32 | Bret Holmes # | Pate Holdings Chevrolet | 49 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 32 | 24 | 75 | Parker Kligerman(i) | Purina/Food Country USA Chevrolet | 45 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 33 | 28 | 97 | Codie Rohrbaugh | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet | 39 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 34 | 31 | 84 | Clay Greenfield | Backyard Blues Pools Toyota | 28 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
| 35 | 12 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | Ford Performance Ford | 28 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 36 | 18 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 28 | 0 | Toyota Tundra |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
Subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford racing news, NASCAR news, Ford F-150 news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
if there ever was a series of racing Ford should not be in …is this series….sometime back…they changed the engines….now all the brands are bascally running a GM spec engine…and with all the internet and social media…most race fans know it….it demotes the Ford brand….hope they either pull out or go back to there own engine….
I agree 100%. The engines rules were changed a few years ago to favor the GM spec engine in a supposed effort to save the lower budget teams that race in this series a little money and I don’t think you will ever see any other engines ever used again. The only purpose this and ARCA, the other GM spec engine series, serve for the teams is as training grounds for new drivers. Ford and Toyota have been forced into this situation by NASCAR. The only way this will ever change is if those two manufacturers grow some kahunas and pull out of both series and the only way that will happen is if their fans stop watching. I already did.
With NASCAR’s truck series being little more than a developmental series now, the only reason to have brand identity on the race vehicles is to establish a manufacrurer’s connection to the driver as they (hopefully) move up the ranks to xfinity and Cup. Leveling the playing field with identical engines makes some sense, but it’s a real disappointment to anyone who follows racing for more than flash. NASCAR is now an entertainment series more than a true sport.
Is the point of a sport not to be an entertainment series? Lol.
What the use of a manufacturer to be in the sport…if the engine…is not there product….Ford bread and butter is trucks….no matter who the driver is…..the engine has always been a major part of it…