Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Jim Utter

Zane Smith takes rain-shortened NASCAR Truck win at Daytona

Smith was leading the race when NASCAR threw a caution on Lap 69 for rain. The race was finally red-flagged after 79 of 100 laps and Smith declared the winner.

Smith grabbed the lead on a restart on Lap 65 when he went low on then-leader Corey LaJoie, who fell into the middle lane and dropped back in the field.

Tanner Gray moved into second at that point and the two were battling for the lead when the final caution came out.

Christian Eckes finished third, Colby Howard fourth and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.

Rounding out the top-10 were Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Corey Heim, Matt Crafton and Chase Elliott.

Travis Pastrana finished 13th in a career-best result for him.

"It's huge. The past couple times I've actually been to Daytona I've gotten to visit Victory Lane. To do that for a third time is awesome." Smith said. "I tried to play that race as smart as possible. When it was getting really aggressive, I'd get out of it. 

"I knew these patches of rain were a thing but I didn't think it would stick around for this long. I just wanted to be there after Stage 2 was over. You never know what's going to happen."

Smith isn't done at Daytona yet. He will compete in Sunday's Daytona 500, driving a third car for Front Row Motorsports.

"I'll be out there Sunday," he said. "It's exactly how we started last year, so it's looking good."

Stage 3

Following the caution between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead-lap trucks elected to pit with Crafton first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 48, LaJoie led the way followed by Zane Smith, Heim, Matt DiBenedetto and Crafton.

Eckes, who restarted eighth, moved back into the lead on Lap 49. LaJoie got a shove into the top spot on Lap 50.

With 45 laps remaining, LaJoie continued to run out front, successfully blocking the advances of Zane Smith and Ankrum.

Rajah Caruth got loose in Turn 3 on Lap 58 while running three-wide to trigger a multi-truck wreck and bring out a caution. DiBenedetto, Friesen, Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye were all involved.

Most of the lead-lap trucks elected to pit but LaJoie stayed out and in the lead. The race returned to green on Lap 65.

LaJoie fell into the middle lane and immediately dropped back on the restart, which sent Zane Smith into the lead.

NASCAR was forced to display a caution again on Lap 69 as it began raining once again. NASCAR ended up halting the race after completing 73 laps.

After about an hour, NASCAR was primed to restart the race and it even briefly returned to caution but the rain picked up again and it was halted against after 79 laps.

Stage 2

Stewart Friesen wrecked while leading the race on the last lap which brought out a caution and allowed Ankrum to claim the Stage 2 win.

Purdy ended up second, Crafton third, Nick Sanchez fourth and Eckes fifth.

Following the caution between Stages 1 and 2, the majority of the field pit but Ankrum stayed out and inherited the lead.

On the restart on Lap 26, Ankrum was followed by Friesen, Howard and Parker Kligerman. Friesen got a shove into the lead shortly after the restart.

Ankrum reclaimed the lead on Lap 27.

On Lap 29, Clay Greenfield and Gray got together entering Turn 1 which triggered a multi-truck incident that also collected Hailie Deegan, Daniel Dye, DiBenedetto, Dean Thompson and Bret Holmes.

The race was halted for nearly 12 minutes to allow crews to clear the track of debris. Several trucks pit during the caution. The race resumed on Lap 36 with Ankrum still in command.

Howard moved into the lead on Lap 37 but he got shuffled back as Friesen moved out front.

Stage 1

Eckes lost, then regained the lead in the final lap and a half, holding off Crafton to take the Stage 1 win.

DiBenedetto was third, Deegan fourth and Sanchez rounded out the top-five.

Sanchez, who started on the pole, got off to a slow start which allowed Majeski to lead Lap 1 but Eckes got a shove to the point on Lap 2.

The race was placed under caution on Lap 3 for light rain. A handful of trucks elected to pit and Derek Kraus was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon. The race resumed on Lap 7 with Eckes out front.

Just after the race restarted, NASCAR threw the caution again as rain started in Turns 3 and 4.

After a brief delay, the race returned to green on Lap 11.

On Lap 13, Crafton got a push past Eckes to take the lead for the first time in the race.

With five laps remaining in the stage, Eckes returned to the lead followed by DiBenedetto and Sanchez.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led Retirement Points Bonus
1 38 Zane Smith Ford 79 2:05'58.264     17   40  
2 15 United States Tanner Gray Toyota 79 2:05'58.774 0.510 0.510     38  
3 19 United States Christian Eckes Chevrolet 79 2:05'59.018 0.754 0.244 19   50  
4 9 Colby Howard Chevrolet 79 2:05'59.343 1.079 0.325 2   33  
5 23 United States Grant Enfinger Chevrolet 79 2:06'00.008 1.744 0.665     36  
6 98 United States Ty Majeski Ford 79 2:06'00.262 1.998 0.254 2   41  
7 16 United States Tyler Ankrum Toyota 79 2:06'01.029 2.765 0.767 15   40  
8 11 Corey Heim Toyota 79 2:06'01.618 3.354 0.589     29  
9 88 United States Matt Crafton Ford 79 2:06'02.066 3.802 0.448 2   45  
10 35 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 79 2:06'02.437 4.173 0.371        
11 99 United States Ben Rhodes Ford 79 2:06'02.857 4.593 0.420     30  
12 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 79 2:06'03.372 5.108 0.515     30  
13 41 Travis Pastrana Chevrolet 79 2:06'04.217 5.953 0.845        
14 17 Sammy Smith Toyota 79 2:06'04.624 6.360 0.407        
15 1 Canada Jason White Toyota 79 2:06'05.487 7.223 0.863     22  
16 56 United States Timmy Hill Toyota 79 2:06'05.835 7.571 0.348     21  
17 4 United States Chase Purdy Chevrolet 79 2:06'06.239 7.975 0.404 1   29  
18 20 United States Derek Kraus Chevrolet 79 2:06'07.238 8.974 0.999     19  
19 22 United States Josh Reaume Chevrolet 79 2:06'07.976 9.712 0.738     18  
20 25 United States Matt DiBenedetto Chevrolet 79 2:06'09.226 10.962 1.250     25  
21 34 Canada Jason White Ford 79 2:06'10.120 11.856 0.894     16  
22 02 United States Kris Wright Chevrolet 79 2:06'11.201 12.937 1.081     15  
23 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 79 2:06'12.410 14.146 1.209 19      
24 33 Mason Massey Ford 79 2:06'12.925 14.661 0.515     13  
25 30 Chris Hacker Toyota 79 2:06'13.420 15.156 0.495     12  
26 2 Nicholas Sanchez Chevrolet 79 2:06'15.309 17.045 1.889     24  
27 51 Jack Wood Chevrolet 79 2:06'16.234 17.970 0.925     14  
28 52 United States Stewart Friesen Toyota 74 2:06'14.238 5 Laps 5 Laps 2   9  
29 24 Rajah Caruth Chevrolet 57 1:23'31.621 22 Laps 17 Laps   Accident 8  
30 43 Daniel Dye Chevrolet 57 1:23'31.806 22 Laps 0.185   Accident 7  
31 32 Bret Holmes Chevrolet 49 1:17'30.127 30 Laps 8 Laps   Brakes 6  
32 75 United States Parker Kligerman Toyota 45 1:10'57.435 34 Laps 4 Laps   DVP    
33 97 Codie Rohrbaugh Chevrolet 39 59'00.889 40 Laps 6 Laps   Accident 4  
34 84 Clay Greenfield Toyota 28 37'44.124 51 Laps 11 Laps   Accident 3  
35 13 United States Hailie Deegan Ford 28 37'44.313 51 Laps 0.189   Accident 9  
36 5 Dean Thompson Toyota 28 37'44.444 51 Laps 0.131   Accident 1
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.