On Saturday (March 7), NASCAR confirmed that a penalty has been handed down to Zane Smith and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse team, following an unapproved adjustment discovered before on-track activity.
In a communication to the media regarding the penalty, NASCAR says the Front Row Motorsports team “was observed making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments”.
The No. 38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford Mustang Dark Horse, piloted by Smith, was re-inspected before it hit the racetrack for practice and qualifying on Saturday. However, the consequences for those improper modifications are threefold.
Will Norris, the car chief of Smith’s No. 38 Ford Mustang, has been ejected from Phoenix Raceway for the remainder of the weekend and will not be present for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500. Additionally, Zane Smith will have to drop to the tail of the field before the start and, after the green flag, serve a pass-through penalty.
The native of Huntington Beach, California, was ranked 25th overall in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice from Phoenix, after his car was re-inspected, and similarly, qualified 24th.
After a respectable opening three races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, including a pair of top-10 results at Daytona International Speedway (sixth) and EchoPark Speedway (seventh), Smith enters the first true oval event of the season at Phoenix sitting 14th in series point standings, above the cutline for “The Chase”.
Smith, throughout his career at NASCAR’s top-level, has recorded five starts at Phoenix Raceway, collecting a single top-10 finish at the one-mile racetrack last Spring, finishing in ninth-place. In his four other starts, though, Smith has finished no better than 29th.
With a penalty being assessed during the race weekend, it’s unlikely that any further action will be taken against the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 by NASCAR.
The Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway will take place on Sunday, March 8, at 3:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
