Zane Smith earns his second-straight NASCAR Truck Series victory at COTA in the Xpel 225 on Saturday afternoon.
AUSTIN, Texas – Zane Smith became the first repeat NASCAR winner at the famed Circuit of The Americas road course, the reigning series champion holding off veteran Kyle Busch to claim his second straight victory in the XPEL 225 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race on Saturday.
Zane Smith Earns his Second-Straight NASCAR Truck Series Victory at COTA
The 23-year-old California native and driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford led the final 15 laps – a race-best 16 of the 42 laps – and crossed the finish line an impressive 5.451-seconds ahead of the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. The win for Smith makes the Front Row Motorsports team a perfect three-for-three in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at COTA. Todd Gilliland won the 2021 inaugural race here.
Ford driver Ty Majeski, Toyota driver Tyler Ankrum, and the winner last year in the NASCAR Cup Series at COTA Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain round out the top five.
The victory marks the second of the year for Smith, who won the season-opener at Daytona too – the same first two victories he earned in his 2022 championship season as well.
“Shout out to Chris Lawson for an amazing strategy,” said Smith, whose Ford F-150 had a small fire under it extinguished after his burnout.
“So cool for [sponsors] Speedco, Peak, and all our partners. It was fast when it mattered. I just enjoy coming to all the road courses, especially here. So cool. Just a true testament to this team.”
“Once we got to that eight-to-go point and I was told Kyle [Busch] was in second, my heart rate went up a little bit, just because he’s so good at managing his stuff when it mattered,” Smith continued. “So, I just tried not to make any mistakes.”
The XPEL 225 Results
The polesitter Chastain and Busch exchanged the lead for much of the early race – combining to lead 22 laps between them. Smith was able to take the lead after pitting just before the final caution and getting track position. Chastain’s truck fell back to 28th for the final restart and Busch’s was 17th yet they both rallied to top-five finishes.
But both NASCAR Cup Series full-timers wasted no time navigating upward through the field. On just the single restart lap, Busch had moved up ten spots and ran seventh – picking off positions with ease. He moved into second place with six laps to go, but by that point, Smith had already opened up more than a five-second advantage.
“Played the long game and unfortunately the long game didn’t work, they got lucky and beat us,” Busch said of gambling with a pit strategy that took the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet into the pits two laps – and a caution flag – after Smith made his final stop.
The NASCAR Truck Series Point Standings
Corey Heim, rookie Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Kaz Grala, and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top ten. NASCAR eliminated stage breaks at road courses in 2023 but Christian Eckes – who ultimately finished 30th after mechanical problems – won Stage 1 (his third stage win of the year) and Busch won Stage 2.
The win Saturday was Smith’s ninth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and put him in the driver standings lead by two points on ThorSport Racing’s Majeski heading into the next race.
Up Next
The NASCAR Truck Series will race the SpeedyCash.com 250 next Saturday, April 1st at Texas Motor Speedway at 4:30 p.m. ET. Coverage is available on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.