Zane Smith came heartbreakingly close to winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title in 2020 and 2021 as he finished runner-up both years. After a dominant display and a frantic overtime in Friday night’s finale at Phoenix Raceway, he can finally call himself a Truck Series champion.
Smith had been stout throughout the 2022 season, winning thrice and having led the points standings every week since Nashville in June. His momentum carried into Phoenix when he won the pole and the first two stages, but fellow Championship Four contenders Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, and defending champion Ben Rhodes plus Stewart Friesen tried their best to spoil the party.
A series of cautions in the final twenty laps led to Friesen and Rhodes being the top runners. Ironically, it was a wreck involving Zane Smith that helped him out in the end when he and Majeski made contact with five laps to go, causing the latter to spin and eliminate him from contention. In the ensuing overtime, the two Smiths briefly jockeyed for position before Zane cleared Chandler down the backstretch. Rhodes got by Chandler but was unable to find an opening in the final corner.
“I wasn’t gonna let it go down like that,” said Smith. “I knew when I came out eleventh, I’ve been in way uglier times before and I was either wrecked or I was coming home with the championship trophy and we got the big one.
“(I was thinking), ‘I’m gonna win this.’ There was no other option. I was either backing it in the fence wrecking, or I was leaving tonight with a championship trophy. There were no other options and when I saw the #18 (Chandler Smith) get underneath me I was worried that I got him too loose underneath me. Fortunately, he stayed off of me. I have a lot of respect for all three of them. It’s pretty impressive for some of the racing we’ve seen lately for us three to go at it that hard and that clean.”
Smith is the fifth driver to win a Truck championship in his first year with a new team after Mike Bliss (2002), Travis Kvapil (2003), Johnny Sauter (2016), and Brett Moffitt (2018). He joined Front Row Motorsports and the Ford development programme for 2022, ultimately delivering the latter its third Truck driver’s championship following Greg Biffle in 2000 and Matt Crafton in 2019.
He is also the second driver with Stadium Super Trucks experience to win a Truck title after Sheldon Creed in 2020; the two had raced together in SST at Road America that year, just a day after Smith scored his maiden Truck victory at Michigan. The series congratulated Smith on Twitter, posting “Another driver with SST seat time wins the @nascar truck series championship. Congratulations”.
Besides defending his title in 2023, Smith will contest a part-time Cup and Xfinity Series schedule for FRM and an ally, respectively.
As Camping World is ending its title sponsorship after fourteen years, Smith is the final Camping World Truck Series champion. Craftsman will take over naming rights in 2023, though it is unlikely that Johnny Benson will be looking to retain his crown as technically the most recent Craftsman Truck champ.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 154 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 3 | 12 | 18 | Chandler Smith | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 4 | 10 | 4 | John Hunter Nemechek | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 6 | 13 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 7 | 3 | 51 | Corey Heim | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 8 | 4 | 15 | Tanner Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 154 | Running |
| 9 | 15 | 30 | Kaden Honeycutt | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 10 | 22 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 11 | 23 | 19 | Derek Kraus | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 13 | 2 | 62 | Layne Riggs | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 14 | 24 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 15 | 20 | 91 | Colby Howard | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | 35 | Jake Garcia | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 17 | 21 | 17 | Taylor Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 154 | Running |
| 18 | 32 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 19 | 19 | 61 | Chase Purdy | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 20 | 8 | 66 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 154 | Running |
| 21 | 26 | 40 | Dean Thompson | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 154 | Running |
| 22 | 11 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 153 | Running |
| 23 | 31 | 5 | Tyler Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 152 | Running |
| 24 | 30 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | AM Racing | Chevrolet | 152 | Running |
| 25 | 25 | 9 | Blaine Perkins | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 152 | Running |
| 26 | 28 | 43 | Chris Hacker | Reaume Brothers Racing | Toyota | 152 | Running |
| 27 | 29 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 152 | Running |
| 28 | 27 | 02 | Johnny Sauter | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 152 | Running |
| 29 | 16 | 24 | Jack Wood | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 151 | Running |
| 30 | 7 | 98 | Christian Eckes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 151 | Running |
| 31 | 14 | 1 | Hailie Deegan | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 133 | Accident |
| 32 | 18 | 7 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 106 | Accident |
| 33 | 33 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 63 | Too Slow |
| 34 | 34 | 33 | Keith McGee | Reaume Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | 15 | DVP |
| 35 | 35 | 20 | Armani Williams | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 | Accident |
Underline – Championship Round driver
Italics – Rookie of the Year
† – Competed for Rookie of the Year