Last-lap sneak earns Zane Smith XPEL 225 victory

Bulky NASCAR Camping World Trucks on the twists and turns of Circuit of the Americas? What could go wrong?

For Zane Smith, not a whole lot. He won the first two stages of Saturday’s XPEL 225 and snuck by overtime contact involving leaders Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, and Stewart Friesen to win his second race of the season.

Xfinity Series rookie and 2020 Truck champion Sheldon Creed won the pole, but never had a chance as his #20 truck was plagued by mechanical issues throughout the weekend: a fuel pump change dropped him to the rear for the green flag, and he had worked his way up to the top ten in two laps before a transmission failure resulted in retirement. He is just the third pole-sitter in Truck Series history to finish last after Rich Bickle at Colorado 1996 and David Reutimann at Homestead 2005. With Creed out of the picture, the lead was held by Cup Series regulars as Bowman led the opening lap before Busch claimed it. Although Busch led much of the first stage, he and much of the field pitted before its conclusion which cycled the top spot to Smith. Smith, whose Front Row Motorsports team won the inaugural Truck race at COTA with Todd Gilliland in 2021, claimed the stage victory ahead of Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Derek Kraus, Tyler Ankrum, Matt DiBenedetto, Timmy Hill, Christian Eckes, Busch, and Parker Kligerman.

Dean Thompson‘s truck lost power shortly after Stage #2 began to produce the first race-related caution. Over the ensuing laps, multiple drivers spun or went off course, which culminated in another yellow flag for Chase Purdy spinning Matt Crafton through the gravel. Crafton retaliated later in the stage while Smith spun John Hunter Nemechek for the lead and eventual stage win. Rhodes, Kraus, Chandler Smith, DiBenedetto, Friesen, Carson Hocevar, Hill, and Kligerman followed.

Hailie Deegan‘s difficult month—which consisted of a crash at Las Vegas, a power steering failure in the Mint 400, and a ghastly fire at Atlanta—continued as her truck stopped twice on lap 29 for the next caution. DiBenedetto was the next victim four laps later when his rear end failed.

Another restart came with seven laps remaining as Busch led Hocevar, though Friesen quickly got by the latter. Bowman overtook Friesen for second two laps later. A clusters of spinners and Matt Jaskol‘s stopped vehicle activated overtime with three laps remaining.

Busch and Bowman comprised the front row to begin overtime, though they only completed half a circuit before the caution came out for Kaz Grala‘s beached truck. A second try saw Busch clear the field while Friesen got by Bowman, but Bowman attempted a move down Friesen and Busch’s inside that sent all three drivers wide and allowed Zane Smith to slip by for the lead. Busch, who had choice words about Bowman when he won the Cup race at Las Vegas, was approached by him following the race before telling media, “I felt like we deserved that one, but it doesn’t matter if you deserve it or not. It’s just a matter if you get it. You have to be the first one to the checkered flag to win these things and we just weren’t.”

“52 (Friesen) just turned left when I was inside of him and put us at an angle where neither one of us way [sic] going to make the corner,” Bowman tweeted (followed by a pair of replies correcting the grammatical error).

As Bowman fought with Nemechek for second, Smith ran off with the victory. It is the fifth of his career and first on a road course.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	2	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	46	Running
2	11	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	46	Running
3	5	51	Kyle Busch*	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	46	Running
4	13	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	46	Running
5	12	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	46	Running
6	8	98	Christian Eckes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	46	Running
7	10	16	Tyler Ankrum	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	46	Running
8	6	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
9	7	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	46	Running
10	16	23	Grant Enfinger	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	46	Running
11	24	45	Lawless Alan	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
12	14	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	46	Running
13	20	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	46	Running
14	18	02	Kaz Grala	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
15	17	44	Kris Wright	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
16	22	61	Chase Purdy	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	46	Running
17	28	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	46	Running
18	31	30	Tate Fogleman	On Point Motorsports	Toyota	46	Running
19	4	75	Parker Kligerman	Henderson Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
20	32	43	Brad Pérez	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota	46	Running
21	34	33	Will Rodgers*	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota	46	Running
22	25	56	Timmy Hill	Hill Motorsports	Toyota	46	Running
23	30	12	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
24	26	91	Colby Howard	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	46	Running
25	3	7	Alex Bowman*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	46	Running
26	9	17	Taylor Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	46	Running
27	15	22	Austin Wayne Self	AM Racing	Chevrolet	45	Running
28	21	37	Logan Bearden	AM Racing	Chevrolet	42	Fuel Pump
29	33	40	Dean Thompson	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	40	Running
30	19	66	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	39	Running
31	36	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	32	Rear Gear
32	27	24	Jack Wood	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	31	DVP
33	35	46	Matt Jaskol	G2G Racing	Toyota	30	Electrical
34	23	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	29	Accident
35	29	9	Blaine Perkins	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	3	Transmission
36	1	20	Sheldon Creed*	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	1	Drivetrain

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Truck points