Zane Smith Wins at COTA for the Second Straight Year

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AUSTIN, TX – RIS – Zane Smith outlasted Kyle Busch to win the NASCAR truck series race at COTA on Saturday.  It was  his second straight win at the 3.41-mile road course. Smith capitalized on a fast truck, solid strategy and good timing to score the victory.  He was able to off Kyle Busch, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum and Ross Chastain in the end.

Then-leader Busch stayed out to extend his tire life and win Stage 2, Smith hit pit road at the stage end, crossing the start/finish line second to earn nine stage points. Saturday marked the first NASCAR national series event since 2016 not to feature cautions for stage ends, a new procedure introduced for most road courses on the Truck Series circuit in 2023.

Moments after the stage ended, the yellow flag waved for the stalled truck of Parker Kligerman, tightening the field and trapping Busch in a difficult position. Since most others had pitted, they were able to stay out while Busch hit pit road. Busch restarted 16th with 13 laps remaining and charged back to a runner-up finish.

Chastain, the polesitter, led 10 of 42 laps on Saturday but had a fueling issue under the Lap 27 caution, trapping his No. 41 Chevrolet farther back in the field ahead of the run to the checkers.

Hocevar was running fifth at Lap 8 when he suffered a brake issue at the end of the long back straightaway. He downshifted to spin his No. 42 Chevrolet and avoid wall contact, but his truck wound up stuck in the gravel with a broken axle and could not continue, resulting in a 34th-place finish.

After scoring the victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas, Zane Smith saw his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 burst into flames after his post-race burnout celebration.

Smith seems to be following the same script he did in 2022.  Last year, he won at Daytona and followed up with a win at COTA to become the truck series champion.  His Front Row Motorsports entry is usually good on road curses as he has proven frequently. Eckes won the first stage and Busch the second stage

After doing the regular burnout on the racetrack, Smith was excited that he pulled parallel to the wall in Victory Lane and burned the rubber off his tires.  A fire started nearly consuming the No. 38 Ford.

Unofficial Results: XPEL 225, March 25, 2023, Circuit of The Americas
Fin, St, Driver, Truck, Laps , St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 7, Zane Smith, No. 38 Speedco/Peak Ford, 42, 8, 2, 2, 16, 5, 52, Running
2) 2, Kyle Busch(i), No. 51 Zariz Transport Chevrolet, 42, 5, 1, 3, 12, , 0, Running
3) 3, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Cincinnati/Curb Records Ford, 42, 2, , 1, 1, , 43, Running
4) 12, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 42, 7, , , , , 37, Running
5) 1, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 42, 6, 7, 3, 10, , 0, Running
6) 11, Corey Heim, No. 11 JBL Toyota, 42, 3, , , , , 39, Running
7) 4, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 42, , 10, , , , 31, Running
8) 9, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Mobil 1 Toyota, 42, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 10, Kaz Grala(i), No. 1 Island Coastal Lager Toyota, 42, 4, , , , , 0, Running
10) 13, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Farm Paint Ford, 42, 9, 9, , , , 31, Running
11) 19, Taylor Gray, No. 17 Dead On Tools Toyota, 42, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 8, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 20, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 15, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 42, , 4, , , , 30, Running
15) 24, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 04 CarQuest Ford, 42, , 8, , , , 25, Running
16) 16, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 Ford Performance Ford, 42, , 6, , , , 26, Running
17) 18, Lawless Alan, No. 45 PlainsCapital Bank/MGMachinery Chevrolet, 42, , 3, , , , 28, Running
18) 36, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Dell Children's Medical Center Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 32, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Quanta Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 25, Colin Garrett, No. 30 11/11 Veteran Project/UnBroken Toyota, 42, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 35, Kris Wright, No. 02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 14, Logan Bearden, No. 22 Bearden Automotive Ford, 42, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Pate Holdings Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 27, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 29, Timmy Hill, No. 56 Will's Automotive Toyota, 42, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Mason Filippi, No. 34 OpenFender Ford, 42, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 21, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 33, Dale Quarterley, No. 46 Van Dyk Recycling/Motul Toyota, 42, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 41, 10, , , , , 9, Running
30) 5, Christian Eckes, No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet, 31, 1, , 1, 3, 1, 17, Suspension
31) 17, Parker Kligerman(i), No. 75 Food Country USA/Utz Chevrolet, 26, , 5, , , , 12, Electrical
32) 26, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Record Rack Chevrolet, 12, , , , , , 5, Electrical
33) 34, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Ford, 11, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 6, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 8, , , , , , 3, Axle
35) 22, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 4, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 23, Ed Jones, No. 20 Little Caesars Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, Suspension
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 42 Laps, 143.22 Miles
Time: 1 Hr, 51 Mins, 36 Secs.
Average Speed: 77 MPH
Margin of Victory: 5.451 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 98, 11, 1, 51, 41, 16, 38, 99, 25
Stage 2 Top 10: 51, 38, 45, 52, 75, 13, 41, 04, 99, 2

Comments: Zane Smith has won the XPEL 225 at the Circuit of The Americas, his ninth career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 43, 02, 88, 75, 25, 04, 17, 32, 30, 4 (unapproved adjustments), No. 12 (unapproved adjustments & driver change;
Spencer Boyd will be the driver).

Failed to Qualify: (3) No. 8 Samuel Lecomte, No. 7 Alex Bowman(i), No. 33 Mason Massey.

Cautions: 3 for 5 laps;
Laps: 3-3 (No. 20 Stopped Turn 13 [None]);
9-10 (No. 42 Stuck In Gravel Turn 11 [None]);
28-29 (No. 75 Stopped Frontstretch [56]).

Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers;
R. Chastain(i) 1-2;
K. Busch(i) 3;
R. Chastain(i) 4-8;
Z. Smith 9;
C. Eckes 10-12;
T. Majeski 13;
K. Busch(i) 14-19;
R. Chastain(i) 20-22;
K. Busch(i) 23-27;
Z. Smith 28-42.

Unofficial Points: XPEL 225, Circuit of The Americas
Pos)     Driver  Car      Starts  GL        Points  Ldr       Nxt      Race Wins       Stage Wins     Playoff Pts
1)         Zane Smith      38        4          4          168      0          0          2          1          11
2)         Ty Majeski       98        4          1          166      -2         2          0          0          0
3)         Ben Rhodes     99        4          1          150      -18       16        0          0          0
4)         Christian Eckes            19        4          -3         148      -20       2          1          3          8
5)         Grant Enfinger 23        4          1          131      -37       17        0          0          0
6)         Matt Crafton   88        4          -4         130      -38       1          0          1          1
7)         Tyler Ankrum  16        4          4          114      -54       16        0          1          1
8)         Matt DiBenedetto       25        4          -1         112      -56       2          0          0          0
9)         Corey Heim     11        4          3          110      -58       2          0          0          0
10)       Tanner Gray    15        4          0          107      -61       3          0          0          0
11)       Chase Purdy    4          4          -3         107      -61       0          0          0          0
12)       Nick Sanchez #            2          4          1          98        -70       9          0          0          0
13)       Stewart Friesen           52        4          3          83        -85       15        0          0          0
14)       Carson Hocevar          42        4          -5         82        -86       1          0          1          1
15)       Timmy Hill       56        4          -1         77        -91       5          0          0          0
16)       Colby Howard 9          4          -1         75        -93       2          0          0          0
17)       Jake Garcia #   35        3          0          65        -103     10        0          0          0
18)       Hailie Deegan  13        4          3          65        -103     0          0          0          0
19)       Daniel Dye #    43        4          0          65        -103     0          0          0          0
20)       Rajah Caruth # 24        4          2          62        -106     3          0          0          0
21)       Kris Wright      02        4          -3         62        -106     0          0          0          0
22)       Lawless Alan   45        3          9          50        -118     12        0          0          0
23)       Bret Holmes # 32        4          1          47        -121     3          0          0          0
24)       Jack Wood                  2          -4         41        -127     6          0          0          0
25)       Kaden Honeycutt        04        3          11        41        -127     0          0          0          0
26)       Spencer Boyd  12        3          1          35        -133     6          0          0          0
27)       Josh Reaume               3          -4         34        -134     1          0          0          0
28)       Bayley Currey              1          -3         33        -135     1          0          0          0
29)       Dean Thompson         5          4          -1         31        -137     2          0          0          0
30)       Mason Massey                        3          -4         31        -137     0          0          0          0
31)       Taylor Gray     17        1          31        26        -142     5          0          0          0
32)       Ryan Vargas                1          -3         23        -145     3          0          0          0
33)       Jason White                1          -3         22        -146     1          0          0          0
34)       Akinori Ogata              1          -2         20        -148     2          0          0          0
35)       Derek Kraus                1          -2         19        -149     1          0          0          0
36)       Colin Garrett   30        1          39        17        -151     2          0          0          0
37)       Jason M White                        1          -3         16        -152     1          0          0          0
38)       Max Gutierrez             1          -3         16        -152     0          0          0          0
39)       Logan Bearden            22        1          27        15        -153     1          0          0          0
40)       Chris Hacker                1          -3         12        -156     3          0          0          0
41)       Matt Mills                   1          -3         11        -157     1          0          0          0
42)       Mason Filippi  34        1          30        11        -157     0          0          0          0
43)       Layne Riggs                 1          -4         9          -159     2          0          0          0
44)       Dale Quarterley          46        1          1          9          -159     0          0          0          0
45)       Codie Rohrbaugh                    1          -5         4          -164     5          0          0          0
46)       Clay Greenfield                       1          -5         3          -165     1          0          0          0
47)       Mason Maggio                        1          -5         2          -166     1          0          0          0
48)       Keith Mcgee                1          -5         1          -167     1          0          0          0
49)       Ed Jones          20        1          21        1          -167     0          0          0          0
50)       Kyle Busch(i)   51        2          -7         0          -168     1          1          1          0
51)       John Hunter Nemechek(i)                  2          -7         0          -168     0          0          0          0
52)       Ross Chastain(i)          41        2          -1         0          -168     0          0          0          0
53)       Kaz Grala(i)     1          2          -5         0          -168     0          0          0          0
54)       Chase Elliott(i)             1          -9         0          -168     0          0          0          0
55)       Travis Pastrana(i)                    1          -9         0          -168     0          0          0          0
56)       Sammy Smith(i)                      1          -9         0          -168     0          0          0          0
57)       Corey Lajoie(i)             1          -7         0          -168     0          0          0          0
58)       Parker Kligerman(i)     75        2          3          0          -168     0          0          0          0
59)       Brennan Poole(i)                     1          -5         0          -168     0          0          0          0
60)       Samuel Lecomte                     0          13        0          -168     0          0          0          0
61)       Bryan Dauzat              0          -6         0          -168     0          0          0          0
62)       Alex Bowman              0          0          0          -168     0          0          0          0
63)       Todd Peck                   0          -7         0          -168     0          0          0          0
64)       Norm Benning             0          -7         0          -168     0          0          0          0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman and John Davison

Ron Fleshman  and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com

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Volume 2023, Issue 3, Posted 4:37 PM, 03.25.2023