Zane Smith experienced a dramatic crash during the Lap 267 restart at Kansas Speedway when John Hunter Nemechek made contact with Smith’s No. 38 Ford, sending him sliding along the outside wall on the driver’s side for several hundred feet. Despite the car’s left side scraping the entire way through Turn 4 without any tires touching the asphalt, Smith’s vehicle maintained some momentum before eventually rolling down the banking and landing heavily back on its wheels.
The crash involved other drivers as well, including Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry, and resulted in Smith finishing 31st in the race. After the wreck, track workers attended to Smith, who was able to climb out of the car unaided.
Smith’s Perspective on the Crash and Race Day
Reflecting on the incident, Smith described the experience as tumultuous and frustrating. He recalled,
“It was a wild ride, no doubt,”
sharing how the restart was going well until the collision occurred.
“Before I knew it, I had a decent restart going and I just get wrecked by (Nemechek). He just drives through me, and then I was sliding on the wall. I was just mad at that point from how our day was going, and this just pissed me off even more because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track,”
Smith told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns.
Despite the violent crash, Smith acknowledged the strong performance of his Ford throughout the day. He said,
“It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Ford today. It’s just a bummer. Right before that caution came out we were going to have a top 10 day, racing up inside the top 10 a majority of the day, and it’s a shame that it has to come to an end out there. I want to give a shout out back to everyone at FRM for bringing another really good car, especially at a mile-and-a-half. Five more (races), hopefully we bring some more good ones.”
The Context of Smith’s Season and Future Prospects
Zane Smith is currently in his first season driving for Front Row Motorsports and holds 27th place in the points standings. At 26 years old, Smith has shown strong potential, notably finishing third at Bristol Motor Speedway just two weeks prior to the Kansas race. Despite the setback caused by the Kansas crash, he and the team remain optimistic about their performance in the remaining races of the season.
