Search
Close this search box.

Partner

Zane Smith Takes Advantage of Contact for Lead, Grabs Second Win of 2022 at COTA

share it
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
PC: Front Row Motorsports | Twitter

Over the last handful of years, we’ve seen first-hand that road course racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tends to provide a great deal of chaos, especially in the late stages of the event, with many young and inexperienced drivers

Saturday’s XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas started out looking to break that trend, in what was a seemingly calm event, until the final stage that is, where multiple restarts broke out, including a pair of NASCAR Overtime restarts.

Following the race’s final restart, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, and Stewart Friesen had all broken away from the pack to battle for the win amongst themselves, with Busch’s No. 51 holding the lead, as it had throughout the majority of the race.

While battling for second, Friesen and Bowman both made a deep lunge into turn 11, pushing the issue in the tight left-hander to force a three-wide situation for the victory. All three trucks made significant contact on corner exit, allowing Zane Smith to sneak through and take the lead.

Video: Zane Smith Takes Lead After Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Stewart Friesen Collide With Two to Go

 

Smith – the winner of the race’s two stages — was then able to pull away from the drivers behind him, winning the event by 3.529-seconds over John Hunter Nemechek, who was able to sneak into second place.

Saturday’s event at Circuit of The Americas is the fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory for Zane Smith, and his second this season with Front Row Motorsports, who also captured the inaugural victory at the 3.41-mile facility with Todd Gilliland.

After getting punted for the victory, Kyle Busch recovered to finish in third-place, with Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith rounding out the top-five. Christian Eckes, Tyler Ankrum, Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10.

Alex Bowman, who suffered the most severe damage from the late-race contact, would finish 25th after being tossed around the 3.41-mile road course over the last two circuits.

The race featured an incredible eight caution flags, most of which were either for incidents or vehicles stopped on the track. Interestingly enough, Austin Wayne Self and Logan Bearden – teammates for AM Racing — claimed all of the seven free passes handed out in the race.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Post

Emerson Axom wins Wednesday night's Chili Bowl Nationals A-Main over Daison Pursley and Corey Day
Emerson Axsom Holds Off Pursley for Chili Bowl Wednesday Prelim Win; Day Third, Yeley 12th
Josh Bilicki returns to the No. 91 DGM Racing team for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season
Josh Bilicki Returns to DGM Racing for Bulky Xfinity Series Schedule
Justin Allgaier to pilot JR Motorsports entry in 2025 Daytona 500 with Traveller Whiskey Chris Stapleton sponsorship
JR Motorsports to Field Daytona 500 Entry for Justin Allgaier
Cody Ware full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing in 2025 as driver of No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Cody Ware Elevated to Full-Time in Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 in 2025
Tyler Tomasssi to compete in two NASCAR Xfinity Series events for MBM Motorsports in 2025
Tyler Tomassi to Make Xfinity Debut with MBM Motorsports in Two-Race Deal
Landon Brooks defeats Brenham Crouch in Tuesday Chili Bowl Nationals Prelim A-Main
Landon Brooks Outduels Brenham Crouch for Chili Bowl Tuesday Prelim A-Main Win

Join Our Newsletter

Ready to have NASCAR news hand-delivered to your email daily?

Related Article