by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Zane Smith finished last in Thursday’s Duel Race 1 at Daytona International Speedway when his #38 Speedy Cash Ford fell out with suspension issues after he completed 6 of 60 laps.

If there was a “most improved” award in NASCAR, Smith should have earned it last year. Running his first full Cup Series season with Spire Motorsports, he finished in the Bottom Ten in 12 of the season’s first 18 races. In the next 18, which began with a 2nd-place finish at Nashville, he only scored another four. This has led to a reunion with Front Row Motorsports, with whom he won the NASCAR Truck Series Championship in 2022, then made some of his first Cup starts. He now pilots the #38 in place of Todd Gilliland, who moves to FRM’s flagship #34 in place of a departing Michael McDowell. Curiously, it is McDowell who drives Smith’s ride from last year – Spire’s #71 Chevrolet. Both McDowell and Smith failed to qualify for the main event in the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium earlier this month.

Smith began the Daytona weekend ranking 23rd of the 43 drivers to take time in opening practice, then qualified 11th with a speed of 181.800mph (49.505 seconds), missing out on Round 2 by just one-thousandth of a second. This placed him 6th on the grid for Duel Race 1.

Starting 23rd and last in Duel Race 1 was J.J. Yeley, who narrowly missed transferring into last year’s Daytona 500 after a last-lap battle with Jimmie Johnson. This year, with Johnson locked-into the field on speed along with 12th-place starter Martin Truex, Jr., Yeley looked to bounce back, but this time had to beat another two drivers: Justin Allgaier in JR Motorsports’ #40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet and Chadler Smith (no relation to Zane) in the #66 Quick Tie Ford fielded by Carl Long’s rebranded Garage 66.

While no drivers were sent to the back for pre-race penalties, several had mechanical issues before the race even started. When the cars first rolled off pit road, 8th-place starter Chase Elliott pulled his #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet out of line. Elliott’s brake pedal went to the floor, and the crew had to pull into their stall to remove a wheel as the driver pumped the pedal. Moments later, 2nd-place starter Ryan Preece pulled his #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford into his stall. The crew lifted the hood and promptly had to extinguish a fire at the back of the engine compartment. First Elliott, then Preece returned to the track – only for 19th-place Ross Chastain to pull his #1 Busch Light Chevrolet into the pits for an engine issue.

Chastain’s problem cropped up so late that he returned to the track in Turn 1 just moments before the leaders took the green flag. While Elliott and Preece reassumed their spots up front, Chastain immediately took over last place. By the start of Lap 2, Chastain was 17.581 seconds back of the lead, and just over 16 seconds back of new 22nd-place runner Carson Hocevar in the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet. On Lap 3, Smith was running 5th, the third car back in the high lane, when he cut down a right-front tire in Turn 2 and slapped the outside wall with the right-front. Smith managed to keep the car near the wall, and the caution soon fell. With Chastain now caught up to the tail end of the field, Smith came down pit road in last place. The team changed right-side tires, and Smith radioed there was too much “slop” in the steering, particularly when he turned to the left. Smith turned six laps in total before he pulled into the garage just before the restart, out of the race.

As a Chartered entry, Smith still qualified for the Daytona 500, where he’ll start 37th.

The next three spots in the Bottom Five were filled by a multi-car accident on Lap 14. Chandler Smith climbed to 3rd in Carl Long’s car, only to cut down on 4th-place Justin Haley’s #7 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet as they fought for the bottom lane in Turn 2. Smith crossed Haley’s nose, then hooked right. Both he and Haley slammed head-on into the outside wall. Also collected was Helio Castroneves, who bent a toe link after slapping the wall in the #91 Wendy’s Chevrolet. Castroneves continued down the track, only to lose control and spin into the wall a second time, ending his race. While Castroneves secured NASCAR’s controversial provisional, expanding the starting lineup to 41 cars, Chandler Smith failed to qualify, sent home with Yeley, who finished 17th to Allgaier’s 9th. Chase Briscoe, the polesitter, completed the Bottom Five when a piece of debris shot through the grille of his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, forcing him out of the race.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in the history of the Duel at Daytona.

*Smith is the first driver to finish last in one of the Duel races due to suspension issues since February 15, 2007, when Juan Pablo Montoya’s #42 Texaco / Havoline Dodge dropped out with suspension issues after 24 laps of Race 1.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

23) #38-Zane Smith / 6 laps / suspension

22) #91-Helio Castroneves / 13 laps / crash

21) #7-Justin Haley / 13 laps / crash

20) #66-Chandler Smith / 13 laps / crash

19) #19-Chase Briscoe / 26 laps / radiator / led 3 laps