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

Zane Smith picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #71 Focused Health Chevrolet fell out with engine trouble after 192 of 500 laps.

The finish occurred in Smith’s 14th series start. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 24th for the #71, the 718th from engine issues, and the 853rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 35th for the #71, the 1,138th from the engine, and the 1,929th for Chevrolet.

Ever since he flashed to two impressive victories in the 2020 Craftsman Truck Series season, Zane Smith has shown persistence in the face of adversity. That year saw him finish runner-up in the standings for the first of two straight years, preceding a satisfying championship in 2022. That same year saw Smith make a surprise Cup debut at Gateway, where he finished 17th after Chris Buescher was sidelined under COVID-19 protocols. The substitution seemed to light a fire under Buescher, who the following week in Sonoma finished a close 2nd to Daniel Suarez.

Last year’s title defense in the Truck Series came up short after a disastrous afternoon in Talladega which was followed by a disqualification for an unsecured windshield in Homestead. But the year also saw him earn solid finishes in a part-time schedule with Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing. He impressed in some of the series’ “crown jewels,” taking home 13th in his first Daytona 500 and 10th in the Coca-Cola 600.

Now signed to a development deal with Trackhouse, Smith embarks on his first full-time season in Cup in Spire Motorsports’ new third team, the #71, alongside fellow Truck Series graduate Carson Hocevar (#77) and flagship driver Corey LaJoie (#7). Smith began this season with his second-straight 13th-place finish in the 500, but entered Bristol with no other runs better than 29th.

At Bristol, Smith ranked 20th of the 36 Chartered entries during opening practice. He then ran 8th-fastest in Qualifying Round 1A, securing him 16th on the starting grid with a lap of 123.873mph (15.490 seconds). This was Smith’s second-best qualifying performance of the season, trailing only his 14th in the Daytona 500, which resulted from a second-straight top-ten finish in his Duel race. Running double-duty with the Truck Series for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Smith finished 3rd behind the battling Christian Eckes and Kyle Busch (in a Spire truck), one spot short of Smith’s track-best runner-up to Ty Majeski in September of 2022.

Securing Sunday’s 36th and final starting spot was Ross Chastain, whose #1 Busch Light Fishing Chevrolet missed the entrance to Turn 3. With no drivers sent to the back for pre-race issues, he’d line up in the final row of the outside lane alongside Carson Hocevar, whose #77 Gainbridge / Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Chevrolet snapped loose on the backstretch during his own timed lap.

At the end of Lap 1, the spot fell to Kaz Grala, but his #15 N29 Capital Partners Ford was already locked in a door-to-door battle with Hocevar, the pair just 0.053 second apart at the line. Hocevar pulled away by Lap 6, when he dropped Chastain back to 35th. The next time by, Grala was alerted to Todd Gilliland dropping back to 32nd in his #38 Citgard Ford, the driver remarking it was “sideways in the exit, plowing in the corner.” Also dropping back was Grala’s teammate Justin Haley, whose #51 Ohanafy Ford took 35th on Lap 9.

Next to take 35th was A.J. Allmendinger on Lap 15, and that time by Grala was alongside him, just 0.095 apart at the stripe. This battle continued for the next several laps. The gap was 0.044 on Lap 16, then down to 0.018 on Lap 18, both with Grala still in last place and now Gilliland slipping to 34th. Grala then leapt to 34th on Lap 20, dropping Allmendinger to last, 0.116 behind the now 35th-place Gilliland. That time by saw 15th-place William Byron bounce his #24 Liberty University Chevrolet off the Turn 3 wall, the result of a stack-up to his inside. Byron made it to pit road under green, where the crew set to work replacing the damaged right-rear toe link, and the caution came out three laps later for debris left on the track – a small piece of the banner that Byron’s car stripped off the wall. Under caution on Lap 28, Byron’s crew completed the repair and changed the left-side tires before sending him out six laps down, the only driver off the lead lap.

Zane Smith entered the last-place battle one lap after the ensuing restart. On Lap 27, Tyler Reddick took the lead in his #45 Monster Energy Toyota by staying out on old tires, but soon after the Lap 31 restart found himself swarmed by Bubba Wallace’s #23 Leidos Toyota to his outside and surprise outside-polesitter Josh Berry’s #4 SunnyD Ford to his inside. Trapped in the middle coming off Turn 4, Reddick spun off the nose of Michael McDowell’s #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, causing an accordion effect further back. Smith’s teammates Hocevar and the #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet of Corey LaJoie spun with Kaulig Racing teammates Allmendinger and the #31 Cirkul Chevrolet of Daniel Hemric. Smith cut low on the frontstretch, running the apron along the outer pit wall, and later tweeted that there were already so many loose rubber “marbles” on the apron that he couldn’t slow down. It was this that caused him to slam into Reddick’s left-front. First Reddick, then Allmendinger fell off the lead lap due to extended stops for repairs while Smith briefly climbed to 20th. On Lap 37, Smith made his own stop and returned to the track in 33rd, the last car on the lead lap, with Allmendinger in the “Lucky Dog” spot ahead of Reddick and Byron.

All cars cleared the “Crash Clock” on the Lap 39 restart with the last-place running Byron – now five laps down after receiving the “Lucky Dog” – trapped behind the Kaulig teammates in front and to his left. By Lap 66, tire issues began to plague the field. Byron radioed he either had a right-front tire coming apart or had too many marbles stuck to it. He came down pit road, followed on Lap 67 by Harrison Burton in the #21 Dex Imaging Ford, then a slowing Noah Gragson in the #10 Black Rifle Coffee / Ranger Boats Ford. Smith then drew the next caution on Lap 71 as his right-front tire came apart, ripping open his battered right-front fender. On pit road, the crew swarmed around the nose of his car, making it a tight squeeze for Ryan Blaney to pit in the stall in front of him. He again returned to the race three laps down in 34th, now ahead of only Reddick and Byron. Smith incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for pitting too early, joined by McDowell, Gragson, and Allmendinger among those penalized for pit road infractions.

On Lap 114, with just over ten laps to go in Stage 1, the last-place running Byron again radioed “It’s coming apart again,” but decided to hang on to the end of the stage. Once again, drivers began to drop off the pace and make unscheduled stops, this time including Wallace’s #23 and Austin Cindric’s #2 Discount Tire Ford. The caution then fell coming to the last lap of the stage when a slowing Kyle Busch blew his right-rear tire. Busch then drove his #8 FICO Chevrolet backwards down the backstretch before turning around. Byron remained last to start Stage 2, now seven laps down and still two behind 35th-place Smith. On Lap 176, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Ball Park Buns & Rolls Chevrolet was nerfed up the track by McDowell, then Hemric. This caused Stenhouse to bang doors with Smith, who again found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. As Stenhouse’s crew replaced a damaged toe link, Smith underwent further repairs, dropping him to last on Lap 181, and returned to the race nine laps down. Smith lost a tenth lap before he pulled behind the wall on Lap 200, smoke pouring from his left-front wheel. NASCAR indicated he’d owe a pass-through penalty if he returned to the track. He didn’t. The crew looked under the hood and Smith climbed from the car, which NASCAR declared the first car out on Lap 242.

Despite the continuing tire issues, Smith was the race’s only DNF. At the end of the final 121-lap green-flag run, Byron remained the last car running at the finish, 8 laps down to winner Denny Hamlin. Gragson, Stenhouse, and Burton rounded out the Bottom Five.

Young guns show veteran poise in challenging Bristol gauntlet

While veteran drivers occupied the entire Top Five at the finish, much of Sunday’s race belonged to the series’ young guns. Ty Gibbs in the #54 SiriusXM Toyota bounced off the wall in practice, but rebounded in the race to lead 137 laps and sweep both stages. Only an ill-timed green-flag stop in the closing stages dropped him to 9th. Josh Berry in the #4 SunnyD Ford led 25 laps, getting the drop on polesitter Ryan Blaney at the start, and was still in contention until his own late stop left him 12th. Todd Gilliland’s #38 Citgard Ford was in the Top 10 during the middle stages before he slipped to 26th.

Last but not least, John Hunter Nemechek ran as high as 2nd behind Gibbs in his #42 Dollar Tree Toyota and wasn’t lapped until the race’s final moments, when he defended a career-best 6th-place finish. Already the second top-ten finish of his second Cup Series season, Nemechek bumped his way back into the Top 16 in points, holding down 15th heading into next Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #71 in a Cup Series race since November 14, 2010, when Brendan Gaughan’s #71 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet crashed after 1 lap at Phoenix. The number hadn’t finished last at Bristol since March 29, 1981, when Dave Marcis’ #71 Bowlin Coal / Hudson Chevrolet led 18 laps before rear end trouble after 60 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #71-Zane Smith / 192 laps / engine

35) #24-William Byron / 492 laps / running

34) #10-Noah Gragson / 494 laps / running

33) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 495 laps / running

32) #21-Harrison Burton / 495 laps / running

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (2)

2nd) Kaulig Racing, Penske Racing, RFK Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (3)

2nd) Ford (2)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP